Vamps and Ronins
by Tiasha
Summary: Alternate continuation to Ghost of the Dawn's 'Demons in the Doorway and Monsters Down the Hall.' Poor Robyn thought graduating from high school was the worst of her problems; turns out that other legends are real, and a few center around Robyn...
1. The Beginning of a New Era

Vamps and Ronins

Introduction: The Beginning of a New Era

By: Tiasha

* * *

Atarashii Ronins

1,000 years ago, when the demonic Emperor Talpa had entered this realm, one man had dared stand against him. He was known as the Ancient One, a monk who had vowed to protect the Mortal Realm, our realm. In a fight that would change the future of a few chosen individuals, the Ancient One conquered the demonic Emperor's soul.

After the evil soul had returned to its realm, the armor of the demon Emperor was left behind in ours, an empty shell of the evil that could have conquered this realm only moments before.

Sensing the danger of leaving the armor whole, the Ancient One split Talpa's armor into ten separate armors and cleansed them of all evil. With ten armors before him, he gave nine the values of human principle; virtue, trust, wisdom, life, justice, piety, serenity, loyalty, and obedience. Those nine armors of human principle were then given powers fueled by nature's elements: fire, water, light, air, earth, venom, illusion, ore, and darkness. It was decided that the armors would be neither good nor evil, but the wearer was to decide how the armor would be used.

With the tenth armor left before him, the Ancient One created the armor of Inferno, the only armor powerful enough to defeat the demonic soul Talpa forever. Knowing full well that a power of this magnitude would be a potential lure for evil, the Ancient created the armor in such a way that **five** of the **nine** armors of human principle must be **present** to summon the armor of Inferno.

With those armors created, they were sent to find wearers and begin the process of helping mankind, as well as bring their power to full capacity. For hundreds of years these armors passed from one wearer to another, saving lives and gaining more power.

The Ancient One was left to ponder over the possibility of defeat now that those armors had been given a purpose. Those armors had been a part of Talpa's evil, even though he (the Ancient One) had purged them of such things. Those armors still had been a part of Talpa, and had maintained the craving for battle.

After a hundred years, the Ancient One had devised a plan for success and thus began the process of creating the atarashii (new) armors. These armors, unlike those split from Talpa's, were stronger and made **purely** from nature's strength and love, her elements. These armors were born of nature's elements, from the wombs of her elements. However, like the orijinaru (original) armors, they were created to be neither good nor evil. The wearer of the armor guided the armor's power. The Ancient One knew that with armors made purely of nature's elements, the threat of chaos and danger to mankind would be present; for such reasons, the Ancient One gave each atarashii armor a soul. A soul of which gave each armor the knowledge of pure innocence, faithfulness, love, as well as pure cruelty, corruption, and hatred.

With this knowledge placed in every atarashii armor, the Ancient One had created an individual; each armor now had its own train of thought, its own emotions, its own urges and hungers and cravings. Each armor had become an individual, yet not; it had become a symbiont. The armor and its wearer become one; the wearer was able to detect the 'moods' of the armor and vice-versa.

With these armors created, the ancient sent all but one to rest, to slumber and awaken when Talpa reentered the Mortal Realm. One armor did not slumber and for nine hundred years it did not join its brothers/sisters in their slumbering wait; the Ancient One trained this armor until it had the knowledge to destroy Talpa should the orijinaru armors fail. For the armor was immortal, it could die, but it would always resurrect its own self. Though the armor had the knowledge to destroy Talpa, it had not yet reached full capacity of its power and therefore waited until a mortal's soul called its own. That day came and the Ancient One sent the armor to the Nether Realm, the realm where Talpa waited to reenter ours. That was seven years before Talpa staged is attack and plan to conquer our realm.

After a thousand years of waiting, Talpa regained entry to our realm and the slumbering atarashii armors awoke. Now awake the armors began their search for wearers. Once the wearers were found, they were to be trained to defeat Talpa should the orijinaru ronins fail. Fortunately for the Mortal Realm, the Ronin Warriors did not; they destroyed the evil emperor once and for all.

The downfall of Talpa left the atarashii armors forgotten while celebration took place, and the atarashii armors were left alone and confused. Their purpose for awakening had been destroyed and the Ancient was no longer able to give them their next purpose. So with Talpa gone, the atarashii armors continued their search for wearers and to train them.

Each armor helped its brother/sister armor in finding a wearer, and in the process, created Guardians. Guardians were individuals chosen to protect and transport an armor that was in the process of finding a wearer. Upon discovery of a wearer, the Guardian is then freed of all responsibilities that pertained to a guardian.

As of recent time, there have been only four atarashii armors made known; those four have the principles of hope, determination, creativity, and secrecy. Their elements are fire, earth, magic and air.

The four armors were given the names Phoenix, Gaea, Isis, and Dragon. While these four armors have found their wearers (some even before Talpa's demise) it is uncertain how many more armors exist or remain.

* * *

~Taken from the personal log of Mariko Ying~


	2. Myths Come to Life

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter One**: Myths Come to Life

By: Tiasha

* * *

_Walking around I hear the earth seeking relief_

_I'm trying to find a reason to live_

_But the mindless clutter my path_

_Oh these thorns in my side_

_I know I have something free_

_I have something so alive_

_I think they shoot 'cause they want it_

_**Creed, "Bullets"**_

* * *

Robyn quickened her footsteps, a frown appearing on her face as a figure in the crowd quickened its footsteps as well. Adrenaline began to flow through her like a tidal wave as she continued to try and lose the figure once again...and failed once again. Desperately, she began running through the crowd, weaving in and out, bumping into other pedestrians and knocking a few others over. She repeatedly apologized but did not slow her pace; turning a corner, she found herself trapped in an alleyway blocked by a wire fence.

Chest heaving up and down, Robyn allowed her shoulders to sag momentarily before squaring them and racing to the wire fence. The fence had to be at least eight feet high and for a short moment, Robyn wondered if she would make it over alive. Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, Robyn placed one foot in one slot and her other foot into another; she gripped the wire in both her hands and slowly pushed herself up with her legs, only pulling when need be.

Halfway up, she heard footsteps echo behind her and bullet whiz past her right shoulder. Biting down her wish to scream, she continued to push herself up, concentrating on the wire fence and her task of escaping. A yelp escaped her pale lips as one bullet grazed her left cheek and another lodged itself in her left arm. Yet she continued to climb, ignoring the searing pain in her upper left arm. Reaching the top, she flipped herself over onto the other side and landed roughly on the asphalt.

Her body ached, that she knew but she also knew that if she did not run she was as good as dead. Groaning, Robyn pushed herself up and slowly, painfully, she placed both feet on the ground before sprinting to the other end of the alley. She could hear a few curses behind her followed by a high-pitched shriek and hiss. Sighing inwardly, she raced for the subway/metro, glancing briefly behind her and caught a glimpse of a magnificent bird above. Pushing forth one last burst of speed, Robyn raced into the nearest subway cab before the doors closed and lurched forward to its next destination.

Ignoring the curious glances and shocked stares, Robyn clutched her left arm and moved to an open seat. A young man moved over slightly and allowed her to have more room, smiling sincerely as he did so. Robyn nodded and smiled her thanks before sinking into the stiff, plastic chair. No one said a word to the young redhead as the deep red blotch on her lavender three-quarter-length sleeve shirt grew larger and larger. Absent-mindedly, Robyn wiped the thin trail of blood on her cheek away on the back of her right hand.

To anyone and everyone, the young redhead seemed shocked that she had been attacked and by the wounds that had been inflicted on her; however, she was not entirely worried about her injuries but confused. She had been attacked with a gun, but why? Her attackers were naturally capable of a much more efficient and...satisfying way.

Shaking her head, Robyn closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched critically by a pair of gold eyes.

* * *

A lone figure stood atop a building in the city of Tokyo, glaring as she watched a redhead run to the safety of the subway/metro below. A frown appeared on her face as the young woman disappeared. The young woman was proving to be more difficult than expected and of course Cody of Gaea had to intervene.

The figure snorted at the thought of the young atarashii ronin actually attempting to comprehend the situation. However, the figure was not interested in the young ronin but more in that the young redhead's recent attackers had used weapons.

_They aren't even supposed to be out at this time of the day,_ the figure thought, narrowing her ice blue eyes at the men below. She crossed her arms over her maroon armored chest, realizing that those men were hired help. Watching one Japanese man in particular, the figure watched as the Japanese man turned into a vacant alley and began to shape-shift into young woman.

"Gaki," she said simply, glaring at the Japanese 'myth'. "This is becoming a far worse situation. Darn it child, why can you not just give me what I need?"

* * *

Joshua watched silently as the young redhead closed her eyes and leaned back in the subway seat, confused as to why she had gunshot wounds. He knew that she should be dead at this very moment, but she was alive. He frowned in anger; this was not supposed to happen!

Clearing his throat, he looked at the redhead with another sincere smile upon his face. "Miss, are you all right? Do you need help getting to the hospital?" he asked, watching her carefully. She looked up at him with curious eyes before shaking her head, her hair creating a curtain around her face.

"I'll be fine...thank you," she said, seeming somewhat detached at the moment. Joshua nodded his head, a smirk on his face.

_That's what you think, hun,_ he thought to himself. He casually looked at his watch before glancing at the back of the cab and frowned. They had expected her to take the subway that was the only reason he could conjure, having seen a man in his late twenties eyeing the young woman next to him. Either that or this man was another female-abducting thief in Tokyo.

He gripped the armrest as the metro rail slowed to a stop, releasing and gaining passengers before lurching forward again. Another young man came and sat down next to him, nodding a greeting as he did so. This man was in his early twenties at least and Joshua sighed inwardly with relief as he recognized this young man.

"What are you doing here?" Joshua asked quietly, trying not to gain any attention from the man in the back. The man next to him merely grinned as he tapped the bridge of his nose and a pair of sunglasses. Joshua nodded in understanding, and glanced at his watch again. Five in the evening.

"We won't be the only ones who will be after this child," Joshua heard the young man say next to him. He glanced at him sideways and frowned.

"I know Scott. That's what I'm afraid of," he whispered, eyeing the man in the back of the subway cab again.

---

Scott followed his gaze and frowned, glaring at the man in his late twenties from behind his sunglasses. Closing his eyes, he allowed the beast that lay curled in the back of his mind to awaken slightly. Reaching out with his senses, he found nothing. Puzzled, he tried again. Nothing.

"Josh man, we are in way over our heads," he whispered. "How we allowed Phoenix to talk us into this is beyond me."

"For one, she is our friend. Always has been and always will be...besides, I owe her a lot. More than you could ever know," Joshua hissed, his brows furrowing in annoyance.

"I know that! What I mean is, why is she so interested in this girl?" questioned Scott, keeping his voice low. Joshua shrugged his shoulders.

"She will brief us on everything once we find out where this girl's home is. She says we hit her where it counts should she disagree to cooperate."

Scott's frown deepened, "I still do not like the odds. We may survive the majority of the battles, but the war is in their favor...it always is."

"I know," Joshua whispered, looking at the young woman next to him. To his surprise, she was asleep with a pained expression on his face.

"We get off at Toyama," he heard Scott whisper. He merely nodded, brushing some strands of red hair away from the young woman's face.

_Sleep Cherie, sleep while you can at least,_ he thought and turned to stare out the subway window. _I hope you believe in myths and superstitions...Robyn._


	3. Little Miss Trouble

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter Two:** Little Miss Trouble

By: Tiasha

* * *

_Now I saw a face on the water_

_It looked humble but willing to fight_

_I saw the will of a warrior_

_His yoke is easy and His burden is light_

_He looked me right in the eyes_

_Direct and concise to remind me_

_To always do what's right_

_**Creed, "Faceless Man"**_

* * *

Wearily, she looked up at the sign, reading the next destination. Toyama. Robyn groaned and sat up straight, gingerly moving her left arm; the bleeding had stopped but it continued to throb. Ignoring the pain, she braced herself for the jerky stop of the subway/metro and stood up. She glanced at the two men on her right out of the corner of her eye and frowned. There was something odd about them, perhaps the fact that one of the men wore a pair of sunglasses...and it was past dusk.

"Miss, are you sure you will be all right?" the man next to her asked. She nodded before dashing out of the cab. Calmly, she made her way through the always-present crowd and up the single flight of stairs. Robyn breathed in the familiar scent of Toyama, a genuine smile gracing her pale lips as she began to walk home. It would take her a good forty-five minutes to reach the Mouri house but she was not concerned about time anymore; after all, she had gained no true sleep in five days and she was now paying the price.

Robyn jerked to a stop as the hair on the back of her neck pricked up and stood on end. Someone was watching her. Cursing silently for once in her life, she took off at a dead run, clutching her injured arm to her side. She weaved in and out in very much the same way she had done in Tokyo but did not bother to apologize this time; after all, she was running for her life. She glanced behind her briefly and caught a glimpse of a figure in a darkened alleyway behind her, watching her intently.

Panic over-rode all other thoughts and movements as well as ignoring the exhausted state her muscles were in; she raced blindly through the crowd, knocking pedestrians over, shoving a few others, no longer caring about her surroundings. The only logical thoughts that were processed at this point were survival, fear, and Cye. It was the last thought that brought her out of her panic-stricken state and allowed her to formulate a plan as she continued her ever-so-tiring run. She needed to get home and explain things to Cye; she was positive he would know what to do.

A three-inch wooden cross bounced against her chest and she instinctively gripped it. The salesman in an Antique store she had visited in Tokyo had given the cross to her. He had given it to her as a gift but she was still foggy on why he had done such a thing. He had told her that it would protect her and bring her courage, telling her some bogus story about its history. She still believed that the history of the cross was fake, what reason did she have to believe that it was true?

She winced in pain as her labored breaths became shallow and legs began to feel numb; her lungs burned and she began to struggle for air. Closing her eyes, Robyn attempted to gain a steady breath but continued to gasp. She suddenly found herself falling and braced herself for a rough landing, which never came. She heard a collective of gasps and her name being said in a disbelieving tone.

"Help," she croaked out before blackness overtook her exhausted body.

* * *

Cye looked up to the sky and sighed, worry clouding over his young handsome features. It had been five days since Robyn had called him from Tokyo and he was beginning to grow worried. The longest span of time she had ever called before was three days, not five. Granted she was most likely busy with her possible internship at Tokyo University but she would have left a five-second message at the least. He knew Robyn well enough that she also would have made time to call him, no matter how busy she was. She had promised his mother that she would call every other day at the latest and Robyn would not back out a promise to his mom.

"Yo buddy, you okay?" a familiar voice broke his train of thought and Cye turned to look at his best friend. He nodded and sighed again; something was wrong, he could feel it.

"Hey Cye, has Robyn called you back yet?" Ryo asked, a spark of hope in his tiger blue eyes. Cye threw his eyes downcast and shook his head. He knew the others were probably just as worried, well, he wasn't too sure about Sage but then again, no one was.

"No, she hasn't called since last week, not even a 'hi I'm all right' message on the machine. I'm really starting to get worried you guys," he said, his British accent evident as always. He gazed at his friends, a frown on his face. "I should have gone with her, at least she would have known somebody. She's only been here a year and going off to Tokyo by herself was kamikaze."

Rowen shook his head, "You're overreacting Cye. I betcha anything that she's really busy at the moment."

Ryo nodded his agreement and Kento gave him a lop-sided grin. His friends' optimism lifted the worry from his mind slightly but not completely. He still felt that nagging in the back of his mind, that instinct that always told him if Robyn was in danger or not.

"Granted she could be busy, but let's not forget what happened just recently. Trouble's probably gone and gotten herself into a rock and a hard place. Danger and trouble seem to be attracted to her," Sage commented, folding his arms across his chest.

Cye groaned inwardly; leave it to Sage to bring up his close-encounter with death and bring up his new nickname for Robyn. How was Robyn to know what she was getting herself into when she dated Jason? However, Sage's recent comment made that nagging feeling worse. He glanced behind him just in time to see a flash of red and lavender as someone bumped into Sage who stood next to him.

Instinctively, he caught the flash of red and lavender before diverting his attention to the stumbling Sage, who Rowen just happened to steady. Cye watched as Sage turned around and glared at the person in his arms. Sage's glare, however, quickly turned to a look of surprise and he heard his friends gasp. Looking down at the limp form in his arms he realized that it was Robyn. There was no mistaking her red hair but her usually bright green eyes seemed glassy and her skin felt feverish.

"Robyn?" he asked, shocked and disbelieving that she was here in the flesh. He watched her struggle to hold on to consciousness and he heard her breathing come in raspy puffs.

"Help," was all she could manage to say before she fainted. He held her now extremely limp frame to him, steadying them both so not to fall. Scooping her up into his arms, he realized how much lighter she was and frowned.

"Cye, we gotta get her to the hospital!" Ryo shouted, getting the group's full attention. "She's been shot! Let's go!"

Cye looked down and saw the sickening dark maroon stain on her left sleeve. He also noticed the deep dark red line across her cheek as the five of them raced down to the subway to catch a rail to the Toyama Hospital.

_What on earth happened to you Robyn?_ he thought to himself as he sat down in one of the hard plastic chairs in the subway cab, cradling her body. The others crowded around him and Sage reached out to push a few strands of her red hair out of her face. The sudden change in mood caught Cye slightly off guard but he made no move to question his blond companion.

"You think she'll be all right?" Kento asked, worry etched on his face. Ryo shrugged his shoulders as Rowen bent down and rolled Robyn's blood stained sleeve up. He grimaced as the gunshot wound began to bleed again.

With out a second thought, he took off his pull over and ripped some of the fabric off, pressing it to the bleeding wound. Rowen ripped a longer strip of fabric off of his pull over and tied it securely and tightly to Robyn's arm before standing up. He raised an eyebrow at his now ripped pull over and shrugged as he saw one arm missing and part of the torso missing. Throwing it casually over his shoulder he looked Cye straight in the eyes and Cye swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.

"It all depends on when she got shot. If it was days ago, then we need to consider an infection at its worst," he stated, looking away from Cye to the others. A melancholy mood swayed and circled about them as they all became silent for the rest of the ride to the hospital.

* * *

Mariko smiled as she watched five of the original Ronins fuss over the redhead. Hopefully she would receive what she wanted soon. Her smile grew wider as a young man in his early twenties sat down next to her and another man also in his early twenties with sunglasses sat across from her. These were her two most trusted warriors, allies, and friends. She raised an eyebrow as the young man with sunglasses smirked at her.

"What is it Scott?" she asked, her voice dull but slightly annoyed. "And take those sunglasses off, the sun is no longer up." The young man complied and pulled them off, folding them and tucking them into a pocket in his black leather jacket. The young man next to her chuckled slightly.

"All right Phoenix, the briefing begins now," Scott said, his deep violet eyes searching her ice blue ones. She frowned slightly at him.

"We will allow Robyn to recover from her injuries. We receive no pleasure in harming her, besides, that was not even part of our original plan," she stated, crossing her arms over chest. She watched as the man next to her ran a hand through his short blond locks.

"All right, is there any new information we need to take into account?" the man asked her. Mariko looked at him blankly before sighing.

"They have a gaki as well," she whispered. She heard both her friends curse at this sudden streak of bad luck.

"Dammit, a replacement I bet. I just got rid of that other one," the man said, glaring out the subway window. Mariko took his hand in hers and frowned, knowing full well that he was still recovering from his last battle.

"Josh, have you seen Gaea recently?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow. Mariko watched as Joshua grimaced, not comfortable with that question but he shook his head.

"No, she has taken into hiding, either that or she is discreetly following Robyn."

"We will protect Robyn and Apollo at all costs," Mariko demanded.

"Why do we not just take Apollo from her while she is weak?" Scott asked raising an eyebrow.

"She'll tell the Ronins the instant she can talk. It is better we wait and attempt to explain things again." Mariko felt Joshua squeeze her hand and she smiled lightly, squeezing his back in return.

She watched Scott slump down in his seat in a huff and she shook her head. Scott was rambunctious but he was loyal...loyal like her adoptive father was. Sighing softly, Mariko leaned against Joshua and closed her eyes. Joshua was probably the best friend she had ever had.

Even though Joshua was a gaki, he had had a brother once and she had loved his brother deeply. She still mourned her lover's death even two and half years later. Though two and half years would not seem long to a normal person, Mariko had been trained in the art of sabotage, espionage, swordsmanship, and soldiery/prowess. One death to her was nothing but she had gone against training and fell in love with Julien. His death had taken an enormous toll on her heart, especially having seen his death with her own ice blue eyes. His death was forever etched in her memory and would continue to haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

Since Julien's death, Joshua and her had grown closer in an unbreakable and incomprehensible bond. They had been each other's support, helping each other get through each day one at a time...as well as create a plan of revenge.

_Julien..._

* * *

Maroon eyes narrowed as tanned fingers fiddled with a school class ring. They were following her as well, now that she was injured. An atarashii ronin, a gaki, a psivamp and a plasma-vamp were more than she could handle by herself.

"Stupid girl," the young woman muttered, glaring at the redhead in the lap of one of the five young men. Cody frowned as she looked out the window. She had offered to protect the young redhead and the redhead had agreed, but the instant things had gotten heavy, the redhead ran. Of course she had followed the redhead discreetly, making sure she did not die.

"What is it they want?" she asked herself as her thoughts revolved around Phoenix and the gaki Joshua. Phoenix was interested in something the young redhead possessed...but what? Cody tried to recall past events up to the present but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

_Guess I will just have to give Robyn a tongue lashing once she has recovered,_ Cody of Gaea thought as a smirk adorned her pale pink lips. Absently, she pushed some forest green hair up under the baseball cap she wore. She had chosen a civilian outfit for this mission, a pair of baggy jeans, Adidas tennis shoes and an earthy brown short sleeve shirt covered by a black hoddie jacket.

Yawning, Cody leaned her head against the window of the subway cab and closed her eyes, drifting off into a light doze. Her grip around her black Jansport backpack instinctively tightened as the cab slowed to a standstill, reaching a stop on its route to the Toyama Hospital. She heard a couple of loud, rowdy teenagers get on the subway and make their way to her.

She sensed one of the teenagers sit down next to her and wrap their arm around her shoulders. Slowly, her hand reached inside her jacket and she gripped a small dagger in its sheath. She smelled alcohol as the teenager breathed on her and she suppressed the urge to gag. Not even twenty-one and this kid was drinking...the thought made her want retch.

"So, what's a girl like you doin' all by yourself?" he asked. Cody looked up at him and watched as he jerked backwards slightly. Most people found her deep maroon eyes startling when not framed by her forest green hair...like now.

"What's it look like?" she asked in a monotone voice. The teenager visibly relaxed, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

"I think you're waiting for me to take you home," he said, his words beginning to slur slightly. Quick as lightening, Cody had her dagger pressed up against the young teenager's throat. She smiled as she saw fear in his onyx eyes and fed off of that fear.

"Now, kindly remove yourself from my sight," she said in a deadly but monotone voice. The teenager scrambled backwards and shoved his friends further back into the cab after she placed her dagger back in its sheath.

Glancing ahead, Cody saw the five young men regarding her with an uneasy look and the auburn haired one held Robyn a little more protectively. She really could have cared less about her behavior and it mattered very little. If anything, the teenager had learned a small but important lesson and Cody had more pressing matters to handle. She certainly had no time for a drunken teenager interested in a wild night; she had to stay alive and not be distracted by other things. Her mission and promise was to protect Robyn...and Apollo.


	4. Atarashii no Ronins

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter Three:** Atarashii no Ronins

By: Tiasha

* * *

Beautiful is empty

Beautiful is free

Beautiful loves no one

Beautiful stripped me

_**Creed, "Beautiful"**_

* * *

Pain, blinding, white pain radiated throughout her head as well as her arm and the rest of her body. Robyn emitted a whimper as she slowly drifted back to awareness and the reality of pain. Her body ached to no end, her arm released a sharp pain that radiated throughout the rest of her body and her head felt like it was being split down the middle with an axe. Robyn whimpered again only to find that the action made her head hurt even worse. She slowly opened her eyes to meet a sterile, white ceiling and an extremely bright light. She winced and brought her right arm up to cover her eyes, only regretting the action after it shifted her whole body in the process, jarring her injuries.

'_A world of pain...man...I'd enjoy some serious painkillers right about now,'_ she thought as she heard hushed voices. She frowned slightly, beginning to wonder where she was. She had not been captured because her captors would not have put her in such a white establishment...so, where was she?

"Robyn?" a familiar voice asked. A slight smile graced her unusually pale face as she saw Cye hover over her.

"I made it…" she whispered, her voice cracking slightly from her labored breathing over the past few days. She saw his face etched with worry and before he could question her, Robyn heard a door open and a commanding female voice resound in the white room. The female voice also sounded familiar and it took a few seconds for Robyn to realize who it was. Cye's face disappeared from her sight almost immediately afterwards.

"Now, I mean it. Once she is rested and has eaten, you all can rant and rave as you like. In the meantime, she is my patient and I had best to attend to her...and I want all of you to leave her alone until I give the okay," the female voice ordered.

Soon after the sound of a door being closed, a blonde head came to claim the spot Cye's head had occupied. The blonde woman smiled down at her gently as she began to check an IV bag.

"Mrs. Date?" Robyn asked, her smile growing a tad bit bigger. Mrs. Date smiled down at her and brushed some of Robyn's red bangs out of her face.

"You're quite lucky in that we got to that bullet early. There wasn't enough time for an infection to occur," Mrs. Date stated, checking the bandage on the redhead's left arm. "By the way, what happened?"

"I walked in on a gang fight...you know, at the wrong place at the wrong time?" Robyn lied, clenching her teeth. Mrs. Date interpreted the action as one of pain from her check-up and not the fact that Robyn was lieing, for she then patted the younger woman's shoulder compassionately.

"Well, you're still lucky...if the boys had not have found you, I'm not sure where you would have ended up. I'll let you rest now and later I'll bring you something to eat. You look like you haven't eaten in days!" Mrs. Date said, leaving the room.

Robyn sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the cold yet secure fingers of sleep touch her exhausted mind. She chuckled at Mrs. Date's comment about not eating in days.

'_If you only knew Mrs. Date...if you only knew....'_

* * *

Mia flipped through the channels on the television, finding nothing to her liking. Satellite TV and still nothing worth her while. Huffing in frustration, she pushed herself up off the couch and made her way to her study; flopping into her over-stuffed leather business chair, she booted up her laptop computer and placed her chin in her hand, turning the desk lamp on and staring at the screen.

She leisurely moved the mouse cursor over an icon that would connect her to the Internet and clicked on it, typing in her password when asked. She tapped a manicured finger on her chin as she sorted through her e-mail, which was either junk or business documents. She sighed heavily as her mailbox continued to gain mail; this was going to be a long night.

Twenty minutes later, a sudden cool breeze caused the brunette woman to shiver. Scowling, she glanced towards the source of the breeze and felt her heart stop. She had not opened the window all day, yet now it was open, and a dark figure was crouched on the sill of the window, watching her. Her hand jerked towards the phone that lay on the desk but froze when the figure spoke.

"Are you...Miss Mia Koji?" the figure asked, almost as if it was ashamed to have been caught perched on her windowsill. The voice sounded feminine and…uncertain.

Mia stared at the figure for a moment before nodding, the curves of her lips quirking upwards. "Yes, I am...can I...help you?" she asked, watching as the figure relaxed and moved to stand in the light of her desk lamp. Mia gasped as she took in the sight in front of her before she breathed one word.

"How?"

The figure shook her head nonchalantly, dark green curls bouncing around her shoulders. "I need your help in…research," the young woman said timidly.

Mia went rigid, "What type of research?"

The young woman in her early twenties held up a mud-colored, armor-gloved hand. Mia immediately knew what the woman was referring to; the young woman's subarmor was a mud-earthy tone and where the Ronins had white...hers was black. The young woman was obviously shaken about this whole situation, probably had no idea what was going on too.

"How long have you had this armor?" Mia asked gently, motioning to a chair nearby. The young woman bowed as she declined the offer.

"I should introduce myself before this conversation goes any further," the young woman began. "I am the atarashii ronin of Gaea...Cody of Gaea."

Mia's blood ran chill...atarashii ronin...new ronin.

* * *

Cye paced the waiting room for the five hundredth time that day, and was slowly losing his patience. It had been two days since Robyn had fell into his arms, figuratively and literally, and still Dr. Date would not allow anyone in to see her. Yesterday, however, he was told that he could possibly speak to the young redhead at visiting hours...visiting hours were almost over. Ryo had long gone home with knowledge of having to cook dinner for himself and his grandmother, and Kento had just recently left having promised his mother that he would be home before too late. So that left Cye with the task of having the hospital buy a new carpet.

"Ahem, Mister Mouri is it?" a voice asked from behind him. He spun on his heel and looked at the nurse with a slight anxiety. He nodded when she continued to look at him curiously.

"Can I go and see her now?" he asked impatiently and sighed in relief when the nurse agreed.

His pace was quick as walked down the hall to Robyn's room, eager to finally talk with her and figure out what exactly happened. Dr. Date had said that it was a gang fight, but something about that answer had unnerved him. Robyn knew better than to go on back streets alone in a place she was unfamiliar with...didn't she?

He raised his hand to knock when he'd reached her hospital room but paused when he heard angry, hushed voices and then small crash. The hand which had been poised in the air, now went to the doorknob and threw open the door. Cye found himself staring at two men, both in a fighting stance, and Robyn sitting up groggily. One of the men however, immediately retreated out of an open window and disappeared.

Cye glared at the other man, "Who the bloody hell are you?!"

The latter relaxed from his stance while the former continued to glare. The young man chuckled, smiled and bowed in good-humor. Cye was not impressed, nor did he find the situation funny.

"I, my good friend, just saved our friend's life," the young man said, waving a hand in Robyn's direction. Cye made his way over to the young red-head and gently steadied her as she sat up and allowed everything to sink in. Cye glanced at the young man again, noting his deep purple hair and subarmor?

"What the?" he gasped, instinctively reaching for his pocket and armor orb.

The young man looked at him curiously before glancing down at himself and laughed, "Sorry about that...fighting gakis is harder than it may seem."

Cye watched in amazement as he banished his subarmor and was clad in his normal clothes; however, he glanced at the young man warily as he realized what he had said. Gakis were mythical creatures, evil and shape-shifting...at least he had thought they were mythical.

"Beware orijinaru no ronin...evil has many forms, I should know," was all the young man said before his disappeared in a blue mist.

Cye blinked a couple of times before looking at Robyn. He saw fear in her green orbs as well as regret. He frowned slightly and glared at her, deciding to use Sage's nickname. He did not enjoy using it but under certain circumstances, he did. At least when he did use it, she did not beat around the bush.

"All right Trouble. You've got some explaining to do," he said sternly, watching her shoulders sag at his words.

* * *

Arain looked at his plate, his brows knitted into a frown of concentration as he stared at the traditional meal. He picked up his fork and pushed some macaroni and cheese around, spearing a few peas in the process; his hot-dog was probably under-cooked as usual. Sighing, he picked up the hot-dog and took a bite, turning his attention back to the papers strewn across his bed and the laptop off to the side.

He winced as he heard a ceramic item crash to the floor downstairs and a woman's outcry of fear, his mother's cry of fear. He shook his head and shut his eyes tightly, futilely attempting to block his father's angered words out of his mind. It never worked; he could still hear them. How he wished he could go downstairs and teach that man a lesson. He was so close to snapping and giving his father a piece of his mind.

"NO! Please don't go up there!" he heard his mother shout. Quickly, he shoved his laptop under his bed and hid the fork. The less weapons, the less wounds; he'd learned that lesson what seemed ages ago. The door to his room was suddenly thrown open and Arain was faced with his father's rage.

"Leave him alone George! Let him be! Ah!" his mother's plea was cut off by his father slapping her. His mother had managed to draw the attention to herself as usual, attempting to save him a beating; but never had Arain witnessed the abuse so closely, never had he seen his mother's tears so clearly. A trickle of blood escaped his mother's lips as she whimpered in pain, trying not to anger her husband by seeming weak.

Arain clenched his eyes shut, teeth gritted together and his lips a thin line, he stood and charged at his father, taking a clumsy swing. Fortunately for Arain, his father was too drunk to be domineering and the two seemed to be equally matched. Taking another swing, Arain collided his fist into his father's jaw, enjoying the look of pain that crossed the latter's face. Now he knew how it felt to be abused.

Seconds later though, Arain found his father's fist in his stomach and he doubled over in pain. He felt his father's foot collided many times with his ribs as a shade of red colored his vision. He braced himself for the next kick only to find there was none. Slowly, Arain opened his eyes to find the authorities handcuffing his drunken father and hauling him away.

His mother was kneeling beside him, crying as she looked at his mangled and beaten body. No doubt a few of his ribs were broken, or at least cracked, broken nose most likely, fractured wrist, and maybe a bruised stomach. He winced as his mother shifted his body so that his head was lying in her lap. Every few seconds, water would drip onto his bruised face. Arain gave his mother a lop-sided smile, gripping her hand in his before blackness swept over him.

* * *

Sage snapped his head up in the direction of the door, narrowing his eyes at the young woman who stood in the doorway glancing about. She reminded him of someone, someone he had not seen in years and could no longer identify. Her dark forest green hair was short, her bangs falling into her face to contradict her pale ice blue eyes, but her expression unnerved him...emotionless. Only when his father approached her did she seem to come alive, which he thought was odd.

"Sage?" he heard a familiar voice question. He turned and looked at the blue-haired youth next to him, before looking at the young woman again. He knew that Rowen was watching this newcomer too; there was something about her that had him on edge.

"Did you feel that? When she came in…and now too?" he asked his companion who nodded in response. There was a predatory air around this woman, predatory and powerful. She seemed to draw all negative and positive energy to her, converting it somehow and then...vanishing it. Yet, she also replenished the energy took...with her own it seemed. The energy she replaced seemed tainted, tainted with knowledge as well as protection.

'_Protection against what though?'_ Sage thought as he returned to his practice with Rowen and the rest of the class.

"Sage, come to my office please," he heard his father's voice echo across the dojo. Sage quickly bowed to his teacher before making his way to his father...and the young woman. He narrowed his eyes as the young woman glanced over him with a critical eye, daring to hope that she would not flirt with him like every other girl...just about every other girl. There was only one girl that he knew of, other than his sister, who did not flirt with him...Robyn.

"This is my son, Sage Date and he is going to Han' a High at the moment, but he is graduating this year," Mr. Date explained to the young woman. She nodded in acknowledgement but made no other move, except hold her hand out in greeting. Sage shook her hand, not wishing to embarrass his father by being impolite.

Sage's eyes widened at the contact, pulling his hand away quickly. Her grip burned! The touch of her skin burned! He quickly composed himself before bowing slightly to her.

"And your name is?" Sage asked, raising a blond eyebrow as she chuckled, not giggled as in flirtatiously, but chuckled. She was not interested in him at all, much to his relief.

"I am called many things, but you may know me as Mariko Ying," she said, her alto-soprano voice soft as if shy, or perhaps secretive.

"She wishes to work her in cleaning up after everything is done," Mr. Date explained. Sage nodded, the closer she was the easier to keep an eye on her. She seemed out of place and with this recent accident involving Robyn...he was beginning to wonder if it truly was an accident.

"I understand," Sage said. "Would you like me to show her around?"

"Yes please, I have paperwork to do," his father replied, sitting down at his desk.

Sage nodded and motioned for the young woman to follow. He noticed that she had slipped into her unemotional phase again; however, her eyes danced around, taking in everything he pointed out and everything he did not. Her actions were as if she had been trained to take everything around her into account, much like a samurai. He narrowed his eyes again, why did she unnerve him with her quietness?

"I must be going," she said suddenly, causing him to spin around. There was a look of worry in her eyes and maybe fear. He frowned, what was she afraid of? From the way she slipped on her emotionless mask so easily, he would have thought that nothing frightened her.

"All right then. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, not willing to create any suspicion. She nodded before disappearing out of the door quickly, as if she were afraid that something would not be available later. Her aura was still inside the dojo, but why she replaced everything with her own was a mystery, as well as why they needed a protective energy.

Sage shook his head, making his way to the locker room to change out of his gi uniform and deciding that Trouble needed to explain a few things very soon.


	5. Hope in DarknessFirey Humanity

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter Four:** Hope in Darkness/Fiery Humanity

By: Tiasha

* * *

_Another bruise to try and hide_

_Another alibi to write_

_Another lonely highway in the black of night_

_But there's hope in the darkness_

_You know you're gonna make it_

_**Savage Garden, "Two Beds and a Coffee Machine"**_

* * *

He felt warm, as if he was on fire. He slowly opened his eyes and quickly sat up as he heard the sound of clashing metal. His tiger blue eyes widened in horror as he found himself in the middle of a burning village. He fought back the bile that had risen to the back of his throat when the burning carnage and carrion reached his nose. He again heard the sound of metal against metal but this time it was accompanied by shouting.

Ryo turned his head towards the sound and saw a young girl of about seven, maybe eight, being advanced on by three larger, burlier men covered in armor. His eyes widened as he realized just who the three men were. He watched as the young girl produced a broad sword from thin air and took a defensive stance. Her long forest green hair was pulled back but her bangs continued to fall into her face, which was set in grim determination as she stared down her three opponents. Ryo was stunned as she expertly twirled the broad sword around her in warning to her three opponents. Her broad sword had a beautifully crafted red and orange handle where the two colors began to intertwine with each other at the pommel, and continued until it reached the hilt and blade.

Ryo struggled to at least call his subarmor but found that he was frozen in place, unable to help the green-haired child as one of the three men raised his datchi sword for an offensive attack and surely a blow that would no doubt kill her.

"Cale! NO!" he shouted, fearing that the young girl was no match for the Dark Warlord of Corruption. To his amazement, the child blocked the warlord's blow and delivered one of her own, but it was blocked as well. He shouted out to the girl as one of the other men advanced on her; she blocked both attacks made by both Dark Warlords. She in turn dealt blows to both warlords, which caused them both to stumble backwards.

Dais, the Warlord of Illusion stood off to the side, clad in his subarmor and coaching the young child. She occasionally glanced at him and nodded in recognition but kept her eyes trained on Sehkmet and Cale. They were training the young child.

This realization struck with such great force that if he had been able to move, he would have stumbled backwards from the sheer shock of it. This child was being trained to be a Warlady?!

"How could they do this?" he whispered to himself as he watched blood flow from various cuts and slashes across the girl's unprotected body. The gruesome training continued until a commanding voice ordered it to stop. The burning village and carnage disappeared as Dais waved his hand nonchalantly and turned to look at the newcomer.

"Father!" Ryo heard the child shout in glee as she ran to the Warlord of Cruelty. Ryo watched as the green-haired girl ran to Anubis and threw herself into his arms as he hugged her in return.

"Father! You're back early! What happened? How was the battle? Oh I do hope it was a glorious one!" the young girl's chatter filled the air but was silenced with a squeal of delight as she stared at something.

Ryo craned his head to see what had silenced her talkative mood. His mouth went agape, as he looked at the small, maroon colored orb in Anubis's subarmored hand. The child, Ryo noticed, was in awe as the small orb sparkled and glowed. One small, tentative hand reached out to touch the orb, ice blue eyes sparkling with glee as the orb floated up into the air.

He had to squint, however, as the orb let out a bright flash of maroon colored light before dimming. The child was now covered in maroon and black subarmor. He watched she held a hand out in front of her, disbelieve clearly visible on her face. She looked at Dais, Cale and Sehkmet before she looked back up at Anubis.

"Daddy, does this mean I have armor like yours?" she asked, her small voice filled with such excitement that it could only be a child's voice. Anubis's nod made Ryo's eyes widen.

"How can that be? There are only nine armors! Aren't there?!" Ryo shouted at the group of five; either his shouts were ignored or they were not heard for no one answered him.

"You are now the bearer of Phoenix, little sister," he heard Cale say affectionately. He watched as Dais gently placed the girl in a headlock; Sehkmet merely smiled.

"What is going on here? Who is she? Why does she have an armor?" he shouted once again.

_"She was our humanity Ryo of the Wildfire. She still is,"_ Anubis's voice whispered in his mind as everything faded.

Ryo suddenly found himself in a bedroom chamber with Anubis and the young girl on a king size bed. Anubis had a large amount of rags and some type ointment while the child was lying on her stomach, back exposed and Ryo could see what the ointment was for. Her back was covered in gashes that could have only been made by a whip.

"Daughter, you do realize that as long as you are here, you are to serve Emperor Talpa," he heard Anubis say gently as he applied ointment to an open wound. The child hissed in pain and cried out as Anubis cleaned the gash as well as place a clean rags on top of it.

"I do not serve him, father. I serve no one, besides the fact that he is not worthy of having me as a servant. I cannot serve him, he is evil," Ryo heard the young girl say.

"Hush child, be wary of what you say. The walls do not lie my dear and should Emperor Talpa hear such disobedience, he will surly take away your right to wear the armor you so adore."

"He cannot take it from me. It would not go with him anyway, it does not belong to him and Phoenix knows that."

"But daughter-"

"You'll see father, one day I'll leave this place. No more having to worry about lashes and threats from that floating head you call master. I'm not destined to live as his servant. Can't you see that?"

"Yes...perhaps you are right. Your spirit is too strong to break against a force you do not believe in. Just be careful daughter, you have an important purpose in life."

Ryo watched the child nod and Anubis continued his job. Everything faded to black once more.

_"She was right, she was not destined to be with us when Talpa attacked the Mortal Realm. She had more courage to face the truth behind Talpa's lies than we did. Protect her Wildfire, I beg of you. She is still the humanity Cale, Dais, Sehkmet and Kayura need,"_ Anubis's voice once again whispered.

Ryo shook his head in frustration, "I don't know who SHE is?! Anubis! What is her name?!"

Darkness was his only answer.

* * *

Cody watched amusingly as her new acquaintance set about pacing the room. She was taking the latest news quite well if Cody was reading the other woman's actions correctly. If Cody had any doubts of this woman being Mia Koji before, they were surely gone by now. This was exactly the reaction she had expected from _the_ Mia Koji; Cody frowned as the brunette flopped down in her chair and sifted through a personal address book.

"What, may I ask, are you doing?" Cody inquired as Mia lifted the phone off of its cradle and began dialing. Mia glanced at the green-haired woman before placing the phone to her ear.

"Calling an emergency ronin meeting," the brunette replied, not noticing the green-haired woman lung for the phone cord until it was too late. Cody smiled slightly at the other woman's yelp of surprise as she quickly disconnected the phone cord from the phone jack. Her smile quickly disappeared as Mia looked at her in fear.

"Here is some free advice that I suggest you take into consideration. Rule number one Miss Koji, when you have an acquaintance who is being followed, don't make phone calls and discuss matters of private when there is the possibility of being bugged. Rule number two, immediately store all-important documents into a secure area, paper or computer wise. Rule number three, hire someone to stay at your residence as a bodyguard," Cody stated, narrowing her eyes at the window she had arrived through.

The tree outside had rustled its leaves continuously for the past three minutes and it was setting her on edge. Something was wrong and nature was trying to warn her about it.

Instantly, as if a light had been turned on, Cody could feel it, she could feel the familiarity of the armor that had suddenly allowed itself to be known.

"Mia," Cody began slowly, "run, now!" Mia looked at her before standing to run. It was too late.

Out of nowhere, an unseen force trapped Mia where she stood and landed a blow in the middle of Cody's stomach, which propelled her into a wall. A sharp pain snaked through her stomach as she crawled through the now broken sheetrock. She felt another blow land in her chest and Cody fell to her knees, gasping for the air that had been knocked out of her. One last blow was dealt to the middle of her back; Cody collapsed to the floor, pain clouding her senses.

An unseen hand grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up to her knees and then to her feet. Focusing her senses, Cody closed her eyes and attempted to project herself into her enemy, to see through his eyes. She cursed as she only found emptiness...however, she could hear the breathing of her opponent. She once again focused her senses, trying to sense where he...or she was.

Her right! Quick as lightening, her hand snaked out and grabbed the arm of her opponent and threw him against a wall. Cody smiled triumphantly as her opponent suddenly appeared, slouched against the cracked wall. Her opponent's deep purple locks fell and covered his eyes, obscuring his face from view as his head hanged low. With a calm demeanor and animal-like grace, Cody made her way over to the young man and yanked his head up by the hair.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't an atarashii ronin. Matt, how have you been? Serving Phoenix like a dog I suppose," Cody sneered, growling as a smirk appeared on the purple-haired man's lips.

"She's not as bad as you make her out to be," the young man said, shifting in his dark blue and black subarmor. Cody threw the young man's head back against the wall as she stood and glared down at him.

"Oh, believe me. Phoenix is as bad as I make her out to be. She lives up to every part of it."

"And how on earth would you know Gaea? No pun intended, my dear."

Cody glared at the atarashii ronin of Isis as he shakily stood and bowed.

"What-what is going on?" she heard Mia ask. Cody frowned as Matt bowed in Mia's direction and released whatever hold he had had on her.

"My apologies Miss Koji," he said. "I regret having froze you for so long but you must realize that it was in best interest of your safety. The true reason I have come is because I've been sent to deliver a message."

"From who?" Mia asked, raising an eyebrow at the young, subarmored man.

"Phoenix," Cody stated blandly. Matt nodded and Cody squared her shoulders in defiance. She'd be damned if she would allow Phoenix to believe that she was her lackey.

"Mariko of Phoenix has requested the presence of the orijinaru Ronins, Miss Mia Koji and Cody of Gaea at Guardian Robyn's hospital room tomorrow afternoon. Everything will be explained then she says."

Cody sighed; finally things were coming around in a slightly better way. Phoenix had not attacked the orijinaru Ronins without giving them a reasonable explanation, which was new.

'_First time for everything I suppose...Mariko, please be optimistic,'_ Cody thought as she and Mia agreed to the "invitation" for tomorrow afternoon.

* * *

Robyn glanced up at her guest for what had to have been the twentieth time that half-hour. The young man had insisted on drawing the curtains closed and she was in no mood to argue. His body language told her that he was not pleased with the idea of "baby-sitting" her when he could be doing other things. Luckily, his shift was almost over and someone else would be taking his place. She silently hoped that it would be the purple-haired young man who had saved her the other night. She found him quite fascinating in that he was part Egyptian, part African and was quite a magician.

'_Though he would be, wouldn't he. His armor is that of Isis which is magic,'_ she reminded herself as the young man in corner shifted uncomfortably but continued to lean against the wall. She looked at him with a thoughtful expression on her face, which he in return scowled at.

"What?" he growled, frowning as she started slightly. She hated not being able to read his emotions through his eyes; it seemed he had had a lot of practice in keeping his face impassive.

"I-I was just wondering why you insisted on standing," she began. "I would not be upset if you sat down...if that was what you were afraid of."

A grunt was her only reply and she so wished that he would take off those pitch-black sunglasses.

'_He could at least try to be nice; I mean its not like I asked him to stay,'_ she thought, crossing her arms as she sighed in defeat. She prayed that whoever came for the next watch would do so quickly, this young man made her nervous.

Her body then took an undesired turn, which caused her to feel even more embarrassed. She squirmed around, trying to rid herself of the unwanted feeling but found it no use. She glanced up at the young man and opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it.

'_I don't even know his name! What am I supposed to call him? Hey you with the shades?!'_ She squirmed in her hospital bed again but looked up at the young man as he began to chuckle at her.

"What?" she asked defensively. Her defenses had been up ever since the young ronin of Isis had convinced her to allow them to guard her hospital room.

"You would not be the first person to call me such a name," he said, pushing off of the stark-white wall and made his way over to her side. She looked up at him strangely as he took her hand in his and shook it in a formal handshake.

"My name is Scott," he said, smirking at her. How had he known that she was wondering exactly that?! She eyed him warily as she again squirmed. She huffed in annoyance and looked up at him with an annoyed pout on her face.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she whispered, her cheeks feeling suddenly warm. Oh how embarrassing is that? She had no doubt that her cheeks were red from embarrassment.

Scott merely chuckled at her expression and helped her over to the connecting bathroom. Robyn was still weak from the lack of nutrition those five days she had been on the run in Tokyo and she was slowly gaining every once of energy back. At this point, however, she still needed someone to help her make it across the room just to use the bathroom.

"Thank you," she whispered as he closed the door behind him and left her alone to do her business. She called for Scott once done and he helped her back to the hospital bed. She smiled wearily at him as she adjusted the covers and he took up his stance of leaning against the wall.

Robyn glanced at the clock as Mrs. Date came in to check-up on her, 12:30 in the afternoon. She could be with Cye and the others right now, eating lunch and joking around, but no, she was stuck in a hospital all because of that stupid marble she had bought.

"It's so dim in here Robyn," she half heard Mrs. Date say as she continued to ponder on what type of lunch she would have tricked Cye into making for her. She continued to half listen to the older woman until one sentence caught her attention.

"You should open the curtains," Mrs. Date said, moving in the direction of the window.

'_Ohmygod!' _ "NO!" she shouted in near hysteria, causing the blonde woman to look at her in surprise. "I mean, no, please. I'll open them when I'm ready, thank you."

Mrs. Date eyed her curiously but shrugged a moment later and promised to have lunch brought up. And with that, she was gone, never noticing the young man with the chestnut pony-tail in the darkened corner.

Robyn breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close." She looked at Scott as he cautiously came out of the corner. "Why must the curtains be closed anyway?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her; besides, it gave her something to do other than sit and wish she could change the past.

He obviously did not feel comfortable with that question and Robyn began to wonder just what he was exactly. Could he be what that green-haired girl had mentioned? Could he be a...gaki?

'O_h. Dear. God. I am in for it for sure! He'll kill me if I make him mad!'_ her mind screamed as she stared at him in sudden fear.

A pained expression appeared on his face as she thought this and he opened his mouth to speak. The door suddenly opened again and Robyn watched as he hid once more in the darkened corner. She turned her attention to the young woman who stood in the doorway, one hand still on the doorknob and the other on her hip. She had an annoyed look on her face as she closed the door but left it slightly ajar.

"Scott, you baka," the young woman said, folding her arms across her chest. Robyn smiled brightly as he came out of the corner; hands shoved in his jean pockets. He scowled at the young woman as she shook her head at him.

"Kaijuu," he said simply, heading to the door. It was the young woman's turn to glare.

"I am not a monster," she said.

"And I'm not an idiot," he replied, closing the door and leaving the room. Robyn looked at the young woman expectantly as the latter moved to open the curtains of her large bay window.

"Though sometimes I do wonder about him being an idiot," the young woman said, her ice blue eyes sparkling with mirth. "Wouldn't you agree Robyn?"

Robyn shrugged her shoulders, something she could finally do again now that the bullet wound was healing quicker. "I wouldn't know. He usually keeps to himself when he is with me," she answered truthfully as the blue-eyed woman pulled a chair up next to the bedside table.

Robyn watched at the young woman smiled, brushing some green strands of hair out of her eyes. The young woman's hair was cut short to where it almost made her look like a boy at times, if it wasn't for the clothing she wore. Her denim jeans were slightly lose but not baggy and had a slight flare to them, while the young woman's purple top criss-crossed in the front with a brown leather strip tie and the sleeves ended at her elbows, also criss-crossing with spaces cut out. The shirt ended just above her midriff and two intricately designed gold bracelets adorned each back of her hand with a maroon-colored jewel in the center of each.

Robyn's brows furrowed as she narrowed her eyes, looking at one of the jewels. Something seemed to be floating inside of the jewel, disappearing and reappearing as if it were in an ocean, or the pit of a fire. The young woman must had noticed her stare, for she moved her hands out of sight as she looked at Robyn calmly. Robyn chewed on her lower lip, she felt embarrassed at having been caught staring at something she now-realized she should not have.

"Um...Mariko, just what **is** Scott exactly? Is he...is he a gaki?" Robyn asked, her voice shaking slightly as she clenched the sheets and covers of her bed. She watched as Mariko narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

"No Ojou-san, he is not. He is what we call a psivamp. He feeds off of emotions," Mariko stated, looking at her strangely. "How did you know about gakis?"

Robyn shrank back against the headboard of the bed, suddenly feeling like a child with its hand caught in the cookie jar. She licked her dry lips as she took a deep breath and answered her guest.

"I overheard you say it."

Mariko merely nodded, "Do you know what a gaki is?"

Robyn thought for a moment. She knew that she had heard that term once before but could not quite remember where. She shook her head, "No I don't, other than it meaning brat and spirit."

Mariko just nodded again and stayed silent. Robyn began to grow worried that she had somehow stumbled upon dangerous ground.

'_Dude, any terrain is dangerous nowadays! I can't go anywhere without getting into some type of trouble. My middle name IS trouble,'_ she thought despairingly as she looked out the bay window.

"Robyn," she heard Mariko say, her soprano voice echoing slightly around the somewhat barren room. "You do realize that my friends and I are fighting a war, right?"

Robyn nodded.

"Good, then you realize that we may need your help, as well as your friends."

Again she nodded.

"Please consider my request once again. Hopefully, you now understand the importance of that marble of yours."

Robyn looked at her strangely, what did her marble have to do with this? What was so special about a dumb yellow marble that would cause people to try and kill her?

"Why is everyone so interested in my marble?" she asked, frowning as Mariko looked impassively at her.

"You will learn in time Robyn," she replied. "Sleep now."

"Sleep? You expect me to sleep with all of this going on? I am so stressed out that I can't sleep!" Robyn complained, crossing her arms and pouting like she had with Scott. Mariko smiled and shook her head, standing to help Robyn lay down.

"You know, when I was all tense from practicing in the dojo all day, my father would sing to me. It helped me relax and fall asleep a whole lot quicker."

Robyn raised an eyebrow at the young woman. "You're going to sing to me?" she asked doubtfully.

Mariko shrugged her shoulders, "Only if you want me to."

Robyn considered this for a moment. Granted she was stressed and it probably **would** take her a while to fall asleep otherwise. Why not? Maybe this would show Mariko that she was not afraid to put a little trust in others.

"Sure, go ahead. What have I got lose?" she sighed, staring up at the white, sterile ceiling. She heard Mariko clear her throat and what followed was something she had not expected from a warrior.

_And she takes another step_

_Slowly she opens the door_

_Check that he is sleeping_

_Pick up all the broken glass and furniture on the floor_

_Been up half the night screaming now it's time to get away_

_Pack up the kids in the car_

_Another bruise to try and hide_

_Another alibi to write_

Robyn stared at her companion as the soothing alto voice continued to leave her mouth. She had thought that Mariko was a soprano when singing, not a melodiously soothing alto. Robyn sighed and concentrated on relaxing her frazzled nerves and found it to be an easier task than she had thought. She continued to listen to Mariko's voice.

_Another ditch in the road _

_You keep moving _

_Another Stop sign_

_You keep moving on_

_And the years go by so fast_

_Wonder how I made it through_

_There are children to think of_

_Baby's asleep in the backseat_

_Wonder how they'll ever make it through this living nightmare_

_For the mind is an amazing thing_

_Full of candy dreams and new toys and another cheap hotel_

_Two beds and a coffee machine_

_But there are groceries to buy_

_And she knows she'll have to go home_

Mariko's voice was either getting softer or Robyn was drifting off to sleep. Robyn smiled, yes she was ready to welcome sleep, and she was ready to welcome the dark oblivion only if she could wake up again. And she knew she would.

_Another ditch the road _

_You keep moving _

_Another Stop sign_

_You keep moving on_

_And the years go by so fast_

_Wonder how I ever made it through_

_Another bruise to try and hide _

_Another alibi to write_

_Another lonely highway in the black of night _

_But there's hope in the darkness_

_You know you're gonna make it_

Robyn finally fell asleep, with the last two lines of the song, which she would not hear Mariko finish, repeat over and over in her head like a gentle caress. Yes, everything would turn out all right. She just had to have faith in her friends, that's all. Faith.

_There's hope in the darkness and I know I'm going to make it through..._


	6. Regrets, Surprises, and Dinner for Two

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter Five:** Regrets, Surprises, and Dinner for Two

By: Tiasha

* * *

_We've seen our share of ups and downs_

_Oh how quickly life can turn around in an instant_

_It feels so good to reunite_

_Within yourself_

_And within your mind_

_Let's find peace there_

_**Creed, "My Sacrifice"**_

* * *

Ryo looked up at the clock mounted above his teacher's desk once again, fervently hoping that some large amount of time had gone by since last he looked. Five minutes. Well, it was **some** amount of time! He frowned and proceeded to twirl his pencil in his hand as he listened to the teacher with a bored expression on his face. Having to wait for school to end was becoming more torturous than he had thought. They had all planned to go and surprise Robyn by dropping in this afternoon and sort of throw a small 'get well' party. Perhaps they would get lucky and catch her in a talkative mood, and then she might tell them what REALLY happened in Tokyo.

Rumors had been going around ever since word of Robyn's arrival in the hospital made it to the school, and the rumors were unsettling. The main rumor, which Ryo just knew was a lie, was that Robyn had been caught drug-dealing and was knocked up by a couple of the dealers. The person behind the rumor? Ryo could only guess that it was Miniko; she still had some vendetta against his red haired friend.

"Mr. Sanada, pay attention immediately."

Ryo lost his pencil in mid-twirl as the teacher's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He grinned sheepishly and silently prayed that the bell would ring soon; the last class of the day and he was steadily growing impatient on how long it was turning out to be.

B-R-I-N-G!

Grabbing his books rather haphazardly, Ryo raced out of the classroom and to his locker. Once at his locker, he shoved the books he need for homework into his book bag and the unneeded books into the bottom of his locker; he groaned, seeing his locker needed to be cleaned **again**. He slammed his locker shut and headed into the sea of students who filed out of the main foyer doors. There, he saw Cye and Kento already waiting off to the side of a large cherry tree.

"Hey guys," he greeted; he smiled as heard Kento complain about how hungry he was and how unfair Cye was for not agreeing to stop and grab a bite to eat. Cye merely shook his head at his friend's antics, saying that he could wait until they made it to the hospital.

Ryo looked over his shoulder as he heard a familiar voice off in the distance. He saw Rowen and Sage in deep conversation and neither looked too happy. He only caught one sentence of their conversation before the two joined the group and the conversation died.

"The question is Sage, are you going to support her?" was what Rowen had said, and Ryo had seen Sage reply with a sharp glare before calming down and looking away.

Ryo gave the bearer of Strata a puzzled look, which was promptly brushed off. Sighing in defeat, Ryo followed Cye and Kento towards the subway. Maybe he would have better luck talking with Robyn, she always had something to say.

* * *

"Absolutely not."

"But Scott!" Robyn whined, hitting the sheets of her bed in frustration. "This food they serve tastes like crap!" she whispered, so that no nurse out in the hall would hear her complaint. "Couldn't you just, hop out and sneak **something** better tasting in? Please?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You would be left unguarded and Mariko would have a fit."

"So?"

Scott sighed in exasperation, "I am not in the mood to get a tongue-lashing from that Ronin! And believe me, she gives a REALLY good tongue-lashing."

Robyn allowed herself to fall backwards from her sitting position and proceeded to pull the covers and sheets over her head. "I'm going to die of food poisoning! Can you believe that? Not from strangers trying to kill me for my stupid marble but from FOOD POISONING!"

"Shut up! You'll cause one of the nurse's to come in here!"

Robyn sighed and pouted under the hospital bed covers. She really was going to die of food poisoning, either that or starvation. And the food honestly tasted terrible; she was not one to complain about food but this was one time she would not suck it down and bear the ungodly taste.

For some odd reason, the word Ronin drifted into her thoughts of food poisoning and escape plan to find a vending machine. Scott had referred to Mariko as ronin. Mariko was a ronin? She knew that Matt, the African-Egyptian, was a ronin...or atarashii ronin. At least that was what he had referred to himself as.

Robyn sat up suddenly, pulling the bed covers off of her and looked straight at Scott.

"Ronin?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow as the young, chestnut pony-tailed man shifted uncomfortably. He looked around the room before his gaze rested on her again, though she still could not see his eyes. Those damned sunglasses of his.

"I was hoping you wouldn't catch that," he said, somewhat upset. She rolled her eyes at him and gave him an annoyed look.

"I'm not a blonde, thank you very much. Now, Mariko is an atarashii ronin?"

Scott nodded.

"What is her armor? What does it do? What's its element? Come on, curious mind here has to be satisfied."

She watched as he chuckled at her and she smiled as his lips turned up into the slightest smile. '_Oh yeah, I've got talent. I can get the most indifferent guys to smile even the slightest bit. Yup, that's a God given talent, right there! Oh yeah, who's good?! I am!'_ she thought, mentally doing one of her happy dances.

"Those are questions that had best wait until she can answer them herself, and yes, you do have a God-given talent. Quite a few in fact, I can tell," Scott said, smirking at Robyn as her stared at him, her jaw agape.

"How is it that you know what I'm thinking?! That is just...scary man! Can you like, read minds or something?" she joked, looking at him with amusement. However, when he began to shift uncomfortably again, her expression of amusement went to one of confusion and then one of realization.

"Whoa, that is just weird. Do all of you...psivamps read minds?" she asked, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Her supernatural companion nodded in…shame? Robyn stared at Scott in surprise. He was ashamed of what he was!

'_Man, what have I gotten myself into?'_

_

* * *

  
_

Arain looked at his snack and then around the kitchen of his new home. He felt so...out of place. This whole house was unfamiliar, the neighborhood was unfamiliar and even the country was unfamiliar. Japan was nothing like his native Italy and he was constantly battling the nostalgia he felt every time he thought of his mother.

He looked up as an elderly woman entered the room, bustling about as if nothing was wrong and in her mind there wasn't. Yes, she was aware of the new living arrangement and situation but it did not bother her. His aunt seemed as if nothing was wrong now that he was safe...but there was. He missed home. He missed his mother.

"Arain, you haven't eaten a bite of pie," his Aunt said, a somewhat baffled expression on her careworn features. "Is it no good? If so I'll fetch a new pie in the morning."

"No Lyn, it's fine. I'm just not very hungry," he answered, knowing that the elderly woman could not stand to be called 'Aunt Lyn'. He watched as she frowned slightly at him in worry.

"Are you coming down with a cold?" she asked, moving to feel his forehead. He dodged the attempt and smiled slightly as she humphed at him. His smile faded quickly, however. Should he lie? Should he tell her that he was sick?

"No, I'm just still getting used to the time difference," Arain answered. Well, it was true; he was not quite hungry enough to eat.

"Oh, all right. I'll wrap it up then, and save it for later. How does that sound?" she asked in a tone his mother used to use.

_**"How about I take the day off and we go to the carnival? How does that sound?"**_

Arain attempted to swallow the lump in his throat induced by his valiant attempt not to cry. That was the last day the two off them had done something fun together. No worries, no cares, no father. Just the two of them. Now it was just.........

_'Me alone.........alone.........without.................mom,'_ he thought to himself. He furiously rubbed at his eyes before excusing himself and racing to the room he was staying in. It was not his room...his room was back in Italy with his mother.

He sank down onto the double bed and grabbed a pillow from against the headboard, hugging it furiously. He blankly stared out the window, letting the tears trail down his childish cheeks. After all, there was only so much an eleven year old could take.

_'Mom......who's gonna protect you? Who?'_

* * *

Cody could practically feel the nervous energy seeping out of the young woman next to her as the two of them stood in the elevator. She ignored Mia Koji's unusual fidgeting and continued to watch the number of floors increase.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

"The woman at the desk had said 1725, right? I did not misunderstand her, correct?" Mia's voice broke the silence. Cody did not turn to look at her.

Fourteen. "Yes, that is what the informant said," replied a slightly agitated Cody. She was in no mood to talk. Something just continued to tug at the back of her mind...rather her armor's mind. Something had stirred her armor's peaceful serenity, causing an uncharacteristic probing within its confines of the mystical orb.

She grunted in annoyance and frustration, continuing to stare at the numbers. She had missed fifteen; '_what in heaven's name will I do now?'_ she thought sarcastically.

She watched as sixteen went by and began to feel the elevator slow to a stop at floor seventeen. The usual chime of the elevator heralded the arrival at floor seventeen as the doors slide open. Cody calmly stepped out and quickly assessed the area, trying to familiarize herself with her new and present surroundings.

She turned and waited patiently as Mia Koji also received her bearings and followed the brunette down one hall. It was unnervingly quiet and Cody was starting to wonder if this whole meeting was actually a trap. However, dull voices caught her attention as she and Mia stopped in front of a hospital door labeled 1725.

"This is it," she heard Mia say as the brunette turned the doorknob. Cody quickly glanced inside after the door was opened. She saw Robyn laying in a hospital bed, Mariko in a chair next to the bed, Joshua by Mariko's side as always, Matt leaning against a wall next to the former three and…Cody scanned the room again. Scott was nowhere in sight, yet, she could still sense him.

"Look out," Cody said, pulling Mia out of the way and blocking a punch that would have rendered the young woman unconscious. Cody glared at the psivamp as his face took on an expression of recognition.

"Cody?" he asked, slightly startled as she sneered at him. She was in no mood to speak with neither him nor Joshua, whom was now looking at her with surprise and regret. "Cody, I did not know you had survived…I would have stayed and helped had I known…"

"I brought Miss Mia Koji," she stated, clearly indicating that she did not wish to discuss the matter. She then turned to look at the bearer of Phoenix. "Mariko…I hear you have a proposition for myself and the orijinaru Ronins?"

The young shorthaired woman nodded her head, "Yes I do, Yang. I want us all to work together on this. My companions and I will not be able to win on our own. Our numbers decrease and it takes longer to search the city while one is here guarding Robyn's hospital room and it takes more time for a change of guards when searching the city."

Cody frowned, "Searching for what? Certainly not Dragon's little whorehouse. You already know where **that** is."

"No, not his night club, his hideout. I know he is hiding his allies somewhere, I just do not know where."

It made sense now. If Mariko was able to lure one of Dragon's men into a trap, they could possibly find out where exactly they were hiding. Very well thought out. But what did that have to do with Robyn, other than needing her as bait?

"What is it you want from Robyn?" Cody asked, motioning to the redhead on the bed, now looking at them curiously.

Mariko smiled slyly, "That will be revealed in all good time, my dear sister."

Cody watched as Mariko stood and made her way over to Mia Koji who was silent throughout this whole exchange of information. Mariko bowed to the brunette and smiled kindly.

"Forgive my rudeness. My name is Mariko Ying; I am the bearer of the atarashii armor of Phoenix. The young man who tried to hit you is Scott, the one with purple hair is the bearer of the atarashii armor of Isis, Matt and the other young man is Joshua. They are my small band of trusted warriors," Mariko said, motioning to each young man in turn.

"You called Cody your sister…" Mia left the sentence hanging and Cody knew exactly what she was thinking. How could sisters fight against each other? She often wondered the same thing…but the answer always slapped her in the face right away. Mariko was raised in a realm of darkness whereas she was raised in a realm of light and purity…at least more purity and light than Mariko's realm. They were two peas but from a different pod, same vine, just different pod.

"Yes, we are sisters, however, we were raised apart…against our will," Mariko said, a remorseful expression appearing on her face.

'_A face that looks a lot like mine,'_ Cody thought regretfully. Yes, they were sisters...but sometimes it felt so odd, so distant, as if it were not real at all.

"But you would not change it if you had a second chance, would you Ying?" Cody asked; she knew her sister's answer already, she would not change it…for better or worse.

"No, I would not Yang," the bearer of Phoenix said quietly.

"When are the guys supposed to get here?" Robyn's voice asked. Cody watched as Mia smiled somewhat impishly.

"As soon as school is out. I suggested the idea of a surprise get-well party to Cye late last night. He agreed and I am assuming that the others agreed as well," Mia said, happy that her little plan had worked.

Cody smirked, "So you tricked the Ronins into coming?"

"Exactly," replied Mia.

"Perfect."

* * *

Ryo frowned in displeasure and worry as he and the others found Robyn's hospital room full of strangers, well not all. Mia and Robyn were there but the other five occupants were absolutely unfamiliar, except maybe one. Her facial features reminded him of somebody, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He looked towards the brunette questioningly, "Mia?" She was sitting next to Robyn and was avoiding his gaze. Slightly hurt, Ryo looked at Robyn…only to find her doing the same thing. Everyone just seemed to be avoiding him today. He sighed in defeat, but perked up slightly when Mia finally did turn to look at them. She offered a wane smile before looking at the one occupant that had Ryo searching his mind for the person she resembled.

"It looks like everyone is here, other than the warlords," she announced softly. "But then they were not going to be involved in this, were they?"

"The warlords are of no concern to us. Kayura will send help if need be, but we have come to an agreement that this war has no need of them," a soprano voice stated; Ryo found that it came from a shorthaired young woman. Her hair was a forest green color and her eyes were the iciest blue he had ever seen. She wore a strangely designed purple top and a pair of loose-fitting denim jeans with hiking boots.

It was her eyes that caused that nagging in the back of his mind to grow stronger, fighting to remember where he had seen her. It was important but he could not quite remember. It was slowly agitating him.

"Mariko? What are you doing here?" Ryo heard Sage question.

Ryo turned to his blond companion and cocked his head to the side. "You know her?" he asked, slightly surprised that Sage knew this young woman.

Sage nodded, "She just recently started working at the dojo."

Ryo nodded in understanding and turned back to the group of strangers. This green-haired woman obviously knew the warlords, but how? How could she know the warlords AND have talked to them just recently? The warlords were in the Nether Realm, a place no one supposedly knew about. How could she possibly know about the Nether Realm and the Warlords unless…

'_The girl! That girl in my dream! She had gotten another armor…one called Phoenix…that's it! She has to be the one in my dream! She has to be that little girl!'_ he thought to himself as fragments from the dream slowly came to the surface.

Ryo's attention shifted to another occupant, a young woman with long, wavy forest green hair. She stood next to 'Mariko' and Ryo had to blink a few times to make sure that he was **not** seeing double. Yes, the other woman looked very much like 'Mariko' with the only differences being the length of the hair and the color of the eyes. Ryo started when he **really** looked into the young woman's eyes; he found himself staring into a pair of maroon pools, pools of fire or lava or…

He cut off the next word, not really wishing to think of **anyone's** eyes resembling **that**.

"Allow me to introduce myself orijinaru Ronins. I am Cody Yang, the atarashii ronin of Gaea," the long, wavy-haired woman said, narrowing her eyes slightly at 'Mariko'. She then looked back at the five of them and bowed in respect. Ryo nodded his head at this, only to be polite. He no idea why she would respect them, they had never met this person in their life.

He was a little foggy on why she had called them orijinaru Ronins and herself atarashii ronin. Were they supposed to replace them? Was that why she called them the original Ronins and herself the new? If so, why? Their armors were just as strong as theirs no doubt.

Ryo froze; were their armors stronger? Was that why the name orijinaru and atarashii? Were their armors better? More improved? Ryo felt sick; this could not be happening.

Two men, one with solid gold eyes and one with a pair of sunglasses, introduced themselves as Joshua and Scott, the former being Joshua and the latter being Scott. A third young man with purple hair and sapphire eyes introduced himself as Matt of Isis.

"Anyone else noticing a trend in the names of these armors?" Rowen asked, crossing his arms and looking slightly interested in the arrival of these new armors.

Ryo nodded, "Yeah, they are all Goddesses of some sort, right?"

Rowen nodded. "Gaea is the Greek Goddess of the earth and Isis is the Egyptian Goddess of magic," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly at Matt. Ryo looked at Matt as well and watched as the young man was encircled in a blue smoke and disappeared, replaced by Robyn. Robyn?

Ryo looked at the hospital bed and noticed a small amount of blue smoke dissipating around what used to be Robyn. In the redhead's place was the purple-haired atarashii ronin. Ryo looked back at the Robyn standing and then back at the purple-haired young man.

"I take it you can do that because of your armor," he said, warily watching the young man in the bed.

The young man opened his mouth to speak but… "Ryo you had better stop looking at me like that! And Matthew! I thought you said you would not do that again! It's just…too freaky to see myself standing in front of me!" came Robyn's voice from the open mouth. Ryo looked at the young man in the bed in absolute shock as blue smoke surrounded him then disappeared, leaving Robyn in the young man's place.

Ryo looked at where Robyn had been standing and found Matthew/Matt standing in her place. Or had she even moved to stand?

"Heh, heh, sorry Red. I'm still trying to get the voice throwing to work…but hey, I got the image switch right!" the young man defended, suddenly sounding like a child. Ryo watched as Robyn crossed her arms and lay back against the headboard of the hospital bed.

"Would you Ronins care for me to be blunt? Or should I draw the reason for this meeting out into the depths of the night?" Mariko asked suddenly.

Ryo looked at her startled. Meeting? This visit had originally been in the good intentions of a get-well party...

"Let me guess, you owe them something, don't you Trouble?" Ryo heard Sage comment and he turned a sharp glare at the blond kendo warrior, briefly noting that the others had done the same thing.

"No actually, they're trying to protect me," Robyn answered somewhat sheepishly.

"And had you listened to me, you would not have been shot," snapped Cody, narrowing her eyes at the young redhead. Mariko put a hand on Cody's shoulder in warning.

"Do not be upset and begrudge her, Yang. She is inexperienced in this and panicked, which is absolutely understandable. She is merely a beginner, as well as the orijinaru Ronins," the shorthaired woman stated calmly.

"We are NOT beginners! Dude, I bet we've had our armors longer than you!" Ryo heard Kento shout in annoyance. Kento was probably right, they probably had had their armors longer than these new Ronins.

Cody glared at all of them, "Any experience in killing a living creature? And no Talpa does not count; he was merely a demon spirit who found an armor to occupy. Bounty Hunting is not a job to be taken lightly."

"Just who are you proposing we destroy?" Sage asked calmly. Mariko was about to answer when Matt hissed like a cat and let out a loud, high-pitched shriek. Ryo looked at the purple-haired young man startled as he moved behind Mariko, as if attempting to either hide or protect her.

Mariko's gaze shifted towards the window with a fearful face, which surprised Ryo. Her personality from what he had seen so far was one of leadership, strength, purpose, trust, determination and hope. Fear, in his mind, was not even considered an option for her personality. Yet, she stood in front of them with fear on her face as Matt once again hissed.

"The sun is almost down," the gold-eyed young man stated placidly as he looked towards the window. Ryo watched as the young man with sunglasses smiled cruelly and headed towards the large bay window. Taking off his sunglasses, he pulled the curtains back just as the last ray of pure sunlight disappeared and opened the bay window, inhaling deeply.

"There's a certain satisfaction in sensing dinner," the young man stated, continuing to smile cruelly. Scott turned and looked in Matt's direction and motioned for the latter to follow him. To Ryo's surprise, Matt did just that almost as if he was in a trance.

"You guys behave! I mean it! Hey wait! Scott you ate at two this morning! You should be full! Scott? Scott! SCOTT!" Mariko's protests went unanswered as the two men disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke.

Ryo watched as the shorthaired woman growled in frustration and slammed the bay door closed. She then turned towards the rest of them in a huff, arms crossed and glowering down at the floor. After a moment, she looked up almost pouting. There was a muffled laugh from the direction of the bed and Mariko threw a glare at the redhead who was trying to keep her laughter from being heard.

Robyn realizing she had been caught let lose and laughed until tears of mirth formed in her eyes.

"Not. A. Word."

The tone in Mariko's voice, Ryo noticed, was laced with a playful warning. Ryo watched as Robyn waved the warning off.

"Do all vampires act like them?" Robyn's voice was completely normal, with an undertone of laughter.

Ryo's widened, "Vampires?"

Cody nodded, "Yes, that and an atarashii ronin. Those are our enemies."

A Ronin Warrior and vampires? That was what Robyn had gotten herself into? Ryo turned his gaze to Robyn and she met his eyes. Ryo grimaced as he saw the guilt in her eyes, and smiled slightly in reassurance as her eyes pleaded him for forgiveness. Did she actually believe they would hate her for this? That they would not back her up?

"In answer to your unasked question Robyn...what are friends for?" he said, smiling as she sighed in relief and smiled back at him. And for the first time in days, Ryo noted that Robyn looked a lot more cheerful.


	7. A Soul's Agony

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter Six:** A Soul's Agony

By: Tiasha

* * *

_So many thoughts to share_

_All this energy to give_

_Unlike those who hide the truth I tell it like it is_

_If the truth will set you free_

_I feel sorry for your soul_

_Can't you hear the ringing 'cause for you the bell tolls_

_**Creed, " Freedom Fighter"**_

* * *

"Okay, so there are...three different types of gakis?" Kento asked, trying to be certain he had the information correctly. Robyn smiled, Kento wanted to make sure he knew what he was dealing with, as did the others. Robyn's smile turned into a slight frown, they were put into this situation because of **her**.

"Well, three that are dangerous. 'Flesh', 'Blood' and 'Soul'. We are dealing with a 'Flesh' gaki, which will make our job much easier. Unless...never mind that is irrelevant," Mariko answered and Robyn could see uncertainty in the young woman's eyes.

"What does it do?"

"You've heard of Jack the Ripper, right?" Robyn watched as Kento nodded in answer to Mariko's question.

"Flesh gakis are far more worse. They must devour the flesh of its victim while it is still alive."

Robyn felt sick. This was what she was receiving protection from? Gory Japanese vampires that mutilated a human being alive?! And what was Josh supposed to be? A Blood gaki? Robyn shifted her gaze to the golden-eyed young man near Mariko. And why was he so protective of Mariko?

"What is Josh?" Robyn heard herself ask and immediately regretted it when both Mariko and Joshua looked in her direction. Cody, Robyn noticed, was off by the bay window, staring out at something.

"I am a 'Soul' gaki," Joshua began; his voice was calm and smooth, no hint of anger, shame, regret or joy, just calm and informatively smooth. "Soul gakis devour the spirit of its victim after killing and then have the ability to assimilate appearances and personality traits of its victims. Majority find great pleasure and excitement in creating the death as violent and painful as possible."

"And you don't?" Kento asked and Robyn saw anger flash in those fascinating, gold orbs.

"No, I make the death as quick and painless as possible...unless it is one who has caused great suffering to others," came Joshua's cool reply, no anger evident, only annoyance. But Robyn knew he was furious at being accused of such actions. His golden eyes told her all she needed to know.

"Why not tell them how Joshua is? Why not tell them that not all gakis are terrible...like Julien? Tell them Mariko," came Cody's monotonous voice. Robyn shifted her gaze to the young woman beside the window. It was obvious that Cody had not meant it to sound as evil as it had. Cody held no hatred towards this Julien, only regret and sympathy...or was the sympathy for Mariko?

Mariko sighed and Robyn looked back at the young woman, head cocked to one side, curious.

"Mari...curious mind **would** like to know," Robyn said somewhat softly. She watched as Mariko shook her head. A frown appeared on Robyn's face as she looked to Joshua and found him supporting Mariko's decision.

"We must finish preparing you all for what is ahead. There will be time later for...personal matters to be discussed." Mariko looked back at Kento and Robyn had to suppress a giggle as the Ronin of Hardrock actually looked slightly intimidated! "Now, do you understand gakis enough for me to move on?"

Kento nodded. Mariko grinned, "Good. Now psivamps are a bit different. In fact, Scott relishes his hunts when Matt accompanies him."

Robyn cocked her head to the side again as Mariko shuddered. "Psivamps feed off of emotions but can also control your mind. However, once a psivamp has fully drained its victim of emotional energy, the victim is then a mindless husk, not recognizing any of its surroundings or **who it is** for that matter," Mariko stated, looking at each of them in turn.

"What does that make Matt?" Robyn asked, wondering if she really wanted to know. Matt couldn't be any of those things! He was too nice and…childish to be anything but a Ronin! To her, Matt was like another Ryo and Kento and Rowen all rolled into one.

Robyn paused her train of thought. Ryo, Kento and Rowen...all in one? She mentally shrugged, deciding that Matt wasn't **quite** all three.

"Matt is a plasma-vamp," answered Joshua, looking slightly concerned. "And hopefully Scott is not pressuring our youngest warrior into something stupid."

"Matt is a responsible fifteen year old. He will be just fine," Cody replied, defending the atarashii Ronin of Isis.

Robyn's eyes widened in surprise; fifteen? Matt was fifteen? But he looked like he was at least twenty-one! '_How...can he be fifteen?'_

It was not until Mariko looked at her that Robyn realized she had voiced her thought. She looked at Mariko with an apologetic smile and Mariko just laughed.

"Guardian, you need not apologize to me! I am merely providing answers to very important questions," she said. Robyn nodded in acknowledgement. "It is his armor that makes him appear older than he is."

"When you say plasma-vamp, do you mean a traditional blood vampire?" Rowen asked.

Robyn scrunched up her face when she realized she needed to use the lavatory again. She said nothing, however and continued to listen, shifting every now and then.

"Yes, plasma-vamps are affected by the sun and are **usually** bond by protocol and honor. They are not allowed to drink unless it is offered to them and even then there are some...interestingly odd side-effects," answered Mariko.

"So that is what we're dealing with?" Sage asked, continuing to lean against a far wall. He turned his gaze towards Robyn and shook his head. "Trouble, you really pick the most complex people as allies."

Robyn watched as Ryo, Rowen, Kento and Cye all turned and glared at their blond friend; Robyn took on an annoyed expression and pouted slightly, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's not my fault they're all after that stupid marble!" she shouted, narrowing her eyes at the bearer of Phoenix. "Mariko, what **is** so special about my marble?"

Mariko shrugged. Cody frowned however, "Yes Ying, what **is** so special about Robyn's marble?"

"That will be revealed in all due time, Yang." Mariko's tone of voice warned that dropping the subject would be a wise decision.

Cody frowned and glared at her sister before gasping, eyes widening in realization. "You have got to be joking Mari-chan! Dragon would kill himself if attempted to merge with TWO! Unless…a child…he can't be serious!"

"Hush! We still do not know why he is so intent on it! I may be wrong, for I am certainly no prophet. For all I know it could very well be a plain glass marble…which I pray that it is."

"Intent on what?" Cye asked from his seat next to Robyn. "What is this marble?"

Cody raised a brow at him, "What did you think you're armors were when you first received them?"

Robyn looked at all of their surprised faces…what was the connection between their armors and her marble? Boy, did she feel stupid when they all knew what Cody was talking about and she didn't. Yes, she was definitely in the dark on this one. "What? What's so special?"

"Nothing Robyn, I'll explain a little later," was all Cye said, obviously not wanting her to be concerned about something until he and the others spoke with Mariko and Cody. So she crossed her arms, pouted and gave Cye a sour look. Life was _so_ not fair!

"So why did you come to the dojo then? To see if Robyn was there?" Sage inquired, glaring at Mariko. Robyn did not like the look on his face. He seemed upset and protective...of her perhaps?

She shook her head; sure Sage and her had their disagreements, usually her doing something that annoyed him, but they were still friends. And she could always count on him to back her up, no matter what. Robyn shifted again, still having to go the bathroom.

"No, but that was an added bonus. I went to the dojo because I had grown up in one. Practice was an essential in my training. I also felt like something was missing, I needed to find a dojo close by. I owe it to my father to protect the Date Dojo anyway...he would have wanted it that way," the young shorthaired woman said softly, a somewhat far away look in her eyes.

"Which father are you speaking of? Yours of Ours, Ying?" Cody asked coldly, which confused Robyn. What did Cody have against Mariko's adoptive father?

"I am talking about **my** father! While yours may be my blood-related father, I do not consider him to be **mine**! Anubis always took care of me the way a father should have!" Robyn watched Mariko shout at her sister.

"Anubis? As in the Warlord of Cruelty Anubis?" Rowen asked, eyes wide at this new fact.

"The Warlords and Lady are not as heartless as you may think," Mariko said venomously; Robyn saw that by the anger in those ice blue eyes, she loved these people **very** dearly.

"Of course not, you're their humanity," Ryo whispered. Robyn gave her raven-haired friend an odd look.

"Like what is **that** supposed to mean Pyro-boy?" she teased, using her nickname for him.

"It means nothing, just that I consider myself part of their little family as does Phoenix."

"Phoenix? You mean your armor?"

"Yes, the new armors are more or less symbiotic, another living creature. The wearer and the armor work together, though not always in harmony. Phoenix was quite upset with Talpa on a number of occasions. Luckily, I was able to spare him from Phoenix's rage so his suffering could be fulfilled by you five. I do pray that you made it worth my sacrifices and punishments?"

Robyn watched as the five of her friends nodded, unable to provide any other answer. She shifted once more before allowing herself to turn to the silent brunette next to her, eyes pleading.

"Mia," she said, catching everyone's attention. "I have to go to the bathroom."

Silence reigned for a moment before chuckles and laughter filled the hospital room. Robyn smiled as Mia helped her to the adjoining bathroom, she always did have a talent of lightening a situation when needed.

'_Now, perhaps I can get the guys __**out**__ of this situation. This is __**my**__ problem, __**my**__ fight and __**I**__ will take care of it __**myself**__...whether they like it or __**not**__!'_

* * *

Karasu prayed for safe passage of the young girl's soul before allowing himself to look at the young girl, his last victim for the night. At least he hoped. The young girl could not be more than seventeen, and had obviously acquired a fake I.D. to enter his boss's nightclub.

"So, should we dump her or what?" a voice asked, pulling Karasu out of his thoughts. He looked at the bodyguards emotionlessly before nodding and heading towards the fire escape attached to the nightclub. He quickly climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time and dropped to his knees, hugging himself.

He had been doing this for hundreds of years and yet he could not get over seeing the mutilated bodies. He could not bring himself to put them through so much pain...but he did. He calmed his harsh breathing and closed his eyes, remembering his friend's words.

"_Make it quick and take many lives...or take a few and spare many. It is your choice Karasu, not Rick's. Yours."_

Karasu looked up at the midnight sky, the slight breeze ruffling his short jet-black hair. Even with all the light pollution, he could still make out a few constellations. After what seemed an eternity, he smiled and stood, steeling himself for his duties to come. She would be coming...Phoenix would be coming soon. He knew because he had fought that young Ronin brat, Isis. Mariko was protecting the girl and if he knew his boss, the upcoming mission was to kidnap the girl. And Mariko would come....

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again, old friend."

With that, he pivoted on his heel and made his way down the fire escape, a slight bounce to his step.

* * *

Sage frowned as he glanced at Mariko next to him and watched as she quickened her pace. The two were walking back to the dojo since Mariko had to do clean up. It was only 8:15 in the evening and yet Mariko was acting as if it was three in the morning, glancing behind them every now and then.

A glint caught his eye as one of the street lamps caught something off of Mariko's wrist. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the large stone bracelet. The stone itself looked like half of a marble and the wires of the bracelet wrapped around each finger, including the thumb, around the palm of her hand and around her wrist thrice. Something appeared to be floating in the stone however, and Sage thought he'd glimpsed what looked like a kanji before Mariko shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Why the strange bracelets?" he asked her casually.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye; "Why the hairstyle?" she asked sarcastically.

He glared at her and frowned when she began to walk even faster.

"Why are you walking so fast?"

She stopped and looked at him, eyes studying him as he caught up to her. He noticed that when she was not under the facade of leader, she seemed whole lot younger. She looked eighteen instead of the twenty-three year old she normally looked like.

"From now on, the night is no longer safe. Nighttime is when the vampires come out. Gakis prefer nighttime to daylight because of the easy-to-find shadows. It is too easy for them to be caught during the day," she replied, but then frowned at him. "What are you looking at? What's the matter Halo?"

Sage shook his head, "Your bracelets....where did you get them?"

Mariko unconsciously brushed some of her forest green hair out of her eyes and started walking again but Sage grabbed her wrist, looking at the stone. Again there was what looked like a kanji floating in the depths of the stone.

Mariko yanked her wrist free and glared at him. He glared back.

"I tried to commit suicide, all right? You happy now?" she snapped at him, shoving her hands back into her pockets.

"Is that your armor orb?"

Her brows furrowed and she started walking again, shrugging her green jacket back into place. "Yeah, it split itself in half to keep me alive."

"And you can still use your armor even though it's split?" Sage asked as he brought up pace and came to walk next to her.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she whispered. "It brings back some bad memories that I would not like to remember right now."

"Is Robyn a Ronin?" he asked, placidly, but praying that she wasn't. She probably would not be able to handle being a Ronin at this point in time along with all the other things that were after her life AND graduation.

Mariko gave him an assessing look before shaking her head, "I'm not really sure, but I'm almost positive that she is a guardian, not a Ronin."

"Guardian?"

"Yeah, when an armor is in transition to a bearer, it finds a person with a relatively equal chi and uses him or her as its vessel. The person is to keep and protect the armor orb until the bearer has been found. Normally the armor will secretly lead the guardian to the bearer, but Apollo does not seem to be doing that with Robyn."

Sage studied her expression to see if she was lying about the whole thing. From what he could tell, she was quite serious about the topic but she seemed a bit uncomfortable discussing it. He frowned at that.

"Why do you not want to talk about Robyn?"

"We're out in the open, too easy for us to be overheard."

Sage nodded at the reasoning and quickly dropped the topic, allowing his mind to wander.

'_What kind life did she have growing up under Talpa's command?'_ he asked himself, continuing to walk next to the bearer of Phoenix silently.

"Were the Warlords honestly kind to you?"

Mariko looked at him, clearly taken back by the question. Her brows furrowed again.

"Well, yeah. Anubis was a great father, considering the circumstances. And the same went for Dais, Cale and Sehkmet as brothers. Dais and I had so much fun playing practical jokes on the others and the only time he was annoying to **me** was when he teased me. Sehkmet was just...there. He usually just listened to my problems when no one else would and would give me advice. He would also patch up my cuts and bruises and he taught me all I know about herbs, poisons and their antidotes. And I remember him giving me my first katana for my birthday...of course Talpa never knew it was my birthday. We usually kept extremely quiet about things of that nature," she explained, looking at him with a lop-sided grin. "It was as normal as a family could get, considering the circumstances."

"Didn't you get in trouble for the practical jokes?" he asked and looked at her slightly confused when she shook her head. Wouldn't Talpa have punished her for such childish games?

"No, Dais explained to Talpa that the experience would help my training. I think he said something like 'the stealth and agility and preciseness' were what helped my training. Talpa, being as stupid as he was, bought it and allowed us continue our pranks...and no one could go and complain to Talpa about them."

Sage nodded as he absorbed this newfound knowledge. She had no idea what having a mother was like no doubt and she saw nothing wrong with her childhood, with what Talpa being in control of her 'family'. And she seemed to have no problem telling him about her 'family'. Did she have any friends at all? Was it even possible for her to have friends there? And what was Cale to her?

"What about Cale?"

She smirked at him, "I was wondering if you had decided that you'd rather not know about him. He gave you a compliment...or what I would like to call a compliment. He said 'if you want a good sword fight, have Halo as your opponent'. Coming from Cale...that's about as good of a compliment as they come."

Sage raised an eyebrow at her, "He really said that?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, he really did, scout's honor! Just don't tell him I told you, he'll throttle me for sure."

"That is a joke right? About him throttling you?"

Mariko looked at him slightly confused, "Well, yeah. None of my brothers would** actually** throttle me. It's just an idle threat from them. All though there was that time Anubis **actually** hit me upside the head, but then again I called Dais a very crude name. I deserved that one...and Talpa just laughed and said I was a little spitfire."

Sage watched as she shuddered at the memory. He chuckled slightly as he realized that Mariko had totally relaxed and had obviously forgotten the present situation with gakis and vampires. She was also oblivious to the fact that she was about to step out into a busy street. He grabbed Mariko roughly and pulled her back onto the sidewalk to him as a car zoomed by closely. He saw her wide ice blue eyes looking at the street in horror before shouting a foul name at the driver of the car. He grimaced slightly at the foul language and prayed that Robyn would not pick up such words.

He let her go and crossed the street when it was safe, glancing at Mariko as she fell in step next to him. They were getting closer to the dojo and his home.

"If that floating head only knew how bad a spitfire I was," she muttered and Sage chuckled.

"If he did, he probably would have sent **you** to attack us," he mused but frowned when he realized something. She was never present during both battles with Talpa, not even Kayura or the Warlords mentioned her. And if she was so important to Talpa, then why did he not have her attack them towards the end?

He was about to inquire where she had been during the battles but she shook her head, smiling.

"I left before the first battle," she said. "I couldn't stand the thought of attacking the realm I was born in, so I left. Talpa was pissed, need less to say."

Sage nodded in understanding, "So where did you go?"

"Sight-seeing."

He looked at her startled, "You went sight-seeing when you could have helped us defeat Talpa?"

Mariko glared at him and he saw an ice-cold rage burning in her eyes. "Please understand. While I couldn't stand to aide Talpa in attacking the mortal realm, I could not bear to fight against my own family. Could you?"

"No, but--"

"You know, Cale begged me to just disappear for a while instead me telling Talpa that I was leaving. They all knew what pain awaited me, and so did I but it made no difference to me. Cale was always protective of his little sister. He was always protective of me and I remember that just before I had left, he had almost stood up to Talpa and faced the truth..."

"But he didn't," Sage finished the sentence for her since it was obvious she couldn't bring herself to. It was not hard to guess what happened after that, considering he had a first-hand's experience of the pain Talpa could dish out. How she could have stood for all of what Talpa had done, and then have enough courage to leave, was beyond him. He would have always assumed that she would have stayed and locked herself in her room or something of that sort.

"No, and it was so hard to leave them, knowing that they believed his lies. It was so hard to just sit back and watch him torture my family. Kayura and I would always have to sit back and watch. She and the others had gotten along really well before I had left. When I left, it seemed as if everything just went south for them."

"They acted as if each of them hated the others. I guess Ryo wasn't joking when he said you were their humanity."

"I guess I was their excuse for them to feel the way the did towards each other."

Sage only nodded. The dojo was in sight now, down at the end of the block. He glanced once more at Mariko and saw that she had slipped on the facade of 'nothing can touch or hurt me'.

'_All for the better, I guess. She honestly believes that they are her family,'_ he thought. He mentally shrugged and nodded as Mariko went into the dojo and he headed on home. It was possible, he supposed and it would just take some getting used to, he guessed.

* * *

Arain watched as with slight trepidation as the bushes near the back fence shifted. He hoped it was a raccoon or a fawn but after what his aunt told him? A large, exotic pet was what the kid next door had and Arain was NOT looking forward to finding out how large and how exotic this pet was, **especially** at night.

Deciding it was time to head back inside, Arain stood, brushing some blond hair out of his eyes. As he did this, the rustling and shifting in the bushes grew louder and a flash of white caught his eye. Arain froze.

"Hello?" he called meekly, "Anybody there?"

In answer to his question, an extremely large tiger leapt out of the bushes and bounded to him. Before a scream could leave the poor fear-stricken boy's mouth, the large tiger butted his head against his hand, purring.

Arain stumbled backwards, unsure of what to do. He slowly lifted his hand and let it hang in mid-air. The tiger immediately took to rubbing its head against his hand. Arain laughed nervously as the white tiger began to sniff his clothes and face. He once again froze as the massive snout moved around his face and then proceed to lick it. Arain tried to suppress his laughter but finally gave up as the large sandpaper like tongue continued to stroke his face.

"Oh, sorry about that! He usually stays in our yard," an unfamiliar voice radiated through the yard. Arain stiffened instinctively and frowned suspiciously at the boy--no, young man at the white fence. His raven-colored hair went down to about his shoulders from what Arain could tell and his eyes were a shade of blue he had never seen before.

"It's all right signori, he was doing no harm," Arain replied timidly as the massive beast moved over to the fence and young man. The young man merely smiled apologetically.

"Are you sure?"

Arain nodded.

The young man smiled, "Good, my name's Ryo. I live here. You must be Arain. You're Aunt talks a lot about you."

Arain stood once again, shoving his hands into his pockets and frowning at the young man. It was hard for him to be trusting of anyone. Trust, he only trusted his mother....and she was gone, back in Italy.....alone.

"I tell her I'm not one she should talk about to others," Arain said placidly.

Ryo gave him an odd look. "Why is that?"

"I'm just not one who should be discussed. I have a soiled past, and I will leave it at that."

The tiger made some inarticulate noise before hopping over the fence for the night.

"It is late and I have things to do tomorrow. If you will excuse me signori, good-night," Arain said, turning to head inside.

"White Blaze has decided you're a friend, so don't be surprised if he jumps the fence to say hello," and with that the raven-haired young man was gone.

Arain sighed and entered the house, drudging up the stairs at his aunt's command. He hadn't meant to be so rude; it just came out that way. The change in culture was so drastic...Arain couldn't help but be rude sometimes. Just to let others know he hated it here. He had wanted to be at least civil but he knew he failed miserably. Maybe this Ryo was understanding? He certainly seemed to be just before.

'_I'm sorry........I really am............please let me make this work......................let mom come here at least.............................please Lord.......I want to protect my mother........I gotta protect.....I gotta protect someone!'_

* * *

Matt gasped and stumbled forward, clutching his chest. The pain...he had never felt such agony before! Perhaps once before, when Julien had died, Mariko's soul had pulsed with a similar agony, but this...

"Matt? Matt! What's wrong? What happened?" inquired Scott as he squatted next to the young Ronin who had curled into a fetal position.

The pain seemed to be coming from his armor, the armor he had only acquired about two and a half years ago. He cried out as the pain only grew stronger and seemed to dull all of his other senses. He was barely aware of Scott dragging him somewhere, muttering a few words every now and then.

"Sorry...Scott....I didn't know.....this......" he spoke softly, his voice suddenly hushed as Scott shook his head, his honey-chestnut ponytail swishing from side to side.

"It's okay kid, just hang in there."

Matt nodded his head and clenched his eyes shut against the terrible pain in his chest. It wouldn't go away....why? Why wouldn't the pain stop?

Matt felt his body spasm and he cried out as a blinding flash of pain ripped through his entire body.

"MARIKO!!!" he cried.

* * *

Mariko inhaled sharply as she dropped the katana in her hands and clattered to the floor. She clutched her hands to her as an agonizing pain pulsed through them and squeezed her eyes shut. The pain...it was so familiar yet foreign. And it only grew worse as she continued to clutch her hands to her and so she sank to her knees. She gritted her teeth as her hands suddenly began to spasm and a sharp knife-like pain shot through them.

The pain wasn't supposed to last this long! Yet, it only grew and seemed to continue to get stronger. Mariko knew that whoever's soul was in this much pain, had lost someone dear to them. She knew this feeling all to well, but her pain hadn't lasted this long. Perhaps the person was younger than her?

'_MARIKO!!!'_

Her eyes snapped open as the cry of her name suddenly slammed into her outside barriers of her mind. Mariko cursed as she struggled to stand and move without fainting from the terrible pain in her hands. She had forgotten about him! She had forgotten about Matt!

"I'm coming bud," she whispered as she somehow managed to get to the door. Matt was probably terrified by now! And he wanted her with him, to tell him everything would be all right.

'_I'm coming Matt, just hang in there, okay?'_

* * *

A shadowed figure clutched his chest as a blinding and agonizing pain pulsed through it, a pain he had felt once before. Only then he had savored it, savored the pain the bearer of Phoenix was in, but this....no.

He frowned as he watched the multi-colored laser lights and misty-smoke that swirled around the mass of moving bodies. A wicked smile tugged at his lips as he watched the bodies, all-moving in rhythm to the blaring music and the pounding of the bass. Another wicked smile appeared on his face as he watched a couple move off to one wall near one of the stairs.

Yes, this was what he lived for. His little 'whore club' as it was occasionally called, was doing very well compared to other 25 and over clubs. His was the only club that had four levels; three for dancing and the fourth for...business deals and...pleasurable persuasions or assassinations.

The pain was still there, he noticed, and it continued to pulse with determination almost. He frowned and narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Why would the pain not stop?

"Sir," he heard Karasu say almost reluctantly. "I have finished for the night."

"Very well," he said, waving his subordinate off. He waited until Karasu left before he massaged the large, green dragon tattoo on his arm. For some reason, the tattoo also pulsed with the same pain as his chest.

His body suddenly spasmed and a faint whimper escaped his lips as he fell to his knees in pain. He gritted his teeth, as the pain grew stronger.

Then the pain began to fade, slowly, still dulling the senses, but so very slowly fading into oblivion.

A sneer formed on his handsome features as he continued to clutch his chest. "Another armor is awakening......and I, Dragon, will have it," he snarled as the multi-colored laser lights shadowed his face with an array of colors.

'_Beware Phoenix, Gaea, Isis......the Dragon is always aware of what is going on. Dragons are all knowing.........'_


	8. Nightmares Running Wild

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Seven: Nightmares Running Wild

By: Tiasha

* * *

_Hands on a windowpane_

_Watching some children laugh and play_

_They're running in circles_

_With candy canes and French braids_

_Inspired to question_

_What makes us grown-ups anyway?_

_Let's search for the moment_

_When youth betrayed itself to age_

_**Creed, "Never Die"**_

* * *

Rowen allowed his gaze to linger on the young green-haired woman who had just recently passed out. After he volunteered to stay and keep Robyn company, Cody had also volunteered to stand guard. A while later, Cody had fallen to her knees, crying out in pain while clutching her chest and tears streaming down her slender face before passing out. Robyn had also clutched her chest in a similar manner but merely yelped at the pain and said it had felt like heartburn. If that was so, then what had caused Cody to pass out?

Rowen glanced at the unconscious young woman before turning back to Robyn, noting the uneasy, accusing glance she was giving him. He frowned and spread out his arms in a gesture that meant innocence.

"What?" he asked her defensively. Her expression turned to annoyance as she scowled at him.

"You didn't feel that...did you," she accused. He gave her an odd look. Feel what? He had felt something in his armor but no physical pain. Perhaps this pain had felt more than heartburn after all; perhaps it had to do with the armors...but if so then why did Robyn feel pain?

"Robyn...what happened in Tokyo?" he asked, deciding to change the subject. She still had not explained everything to them and he was beginning to feel slightly hurt by this. Didn't she trust them?

Robyn averted her gaze as she played with the edge of the hospital sheet and frowned in concentration. It seemed like forever before she finally spoke.

"I'm not really sure...it all happened so fast," she began somewhat slowly. "I had decided to do a little sightseeing and went into a few shops. I found one antique shop and was almost drawn inside...like something was calling me. When I went in, I looked around for a little while then found this pile of marbles. One marble was kinda covered by the others and it was a bright yellow. For some reason, I bought it. Then the shop-owner gave me this wooden cross and said "May God be merciful and watch over you." Then he told me some weird story about the cross having protected many young girls in the far past and that it was the wood that had spared their lives...not the symbol itself. I just thought he was trying to scare me or something so I left with my stuff. Next thing I know, this guy confronts me and says he wants Apollo...of course that guy was Scott..."

"Sounds to me like this marble is actually an armor," Rowen guessed, watching as Robyn paled. Robyn couldn't be a ronin...could she? Was that why she had been drawn to it?

"Rowen...does this mean......what I think it means?" she whispered and Rowen winced at the tone of her voice. She was afraid. In the time that he had known her....she had never shown a lot of fear; yeah she had gotten scared a couple of times...but not this. This was a bit more than that, not quite true fear, but certainly more than what he had ever seen.

"I don't know..." he replied quietly.

"You are a guardian," a feminine voice stated, and Rowen turned to see Cody holding her chest. A look of discomfort flitted across her face as she moved to sit in one of the two chairs near Robyn's hospital bed.

"And what is that?" he asked.

Cody looked at him strangely, "Exactly what it means. She guards Apollo until he has chosen."

"Chosen what and how am I supposed to protect an armor?" Robyn asked, clearly annoyed by Cody's information, or lack there of.

"You are its transportation, and when it has decided on a bearer, the armor will let you know."

Rowen chuckled as Robyn pouted and saw Cody smile gently, which surprised him a bit. Cody had seemed indifferent through the whole 'gathering'...much like her sister, Mariko. Yet, now she was acting extremely kind and understanding towards Robyn, almost as if the indifference was a facade she put on whenever an emotional barrier was needed. He watched as she sought words to comfort the now-pouting red head.

"I was...never good at explaining things of this measure of importance. Perhaps you should wait to ask your questions for Mariko to answer."

"Why do you two hate each other?" Rowen heard Robyn ask and he grimaced at her bluntness. That was a habit she was never going to get rid of, and at times, it really got on all of their nerves. Other times, it just left them in surprise.

A shadowed expression fell across Cody's face and Rowen wondered why that question had caused such regret and sorrow. It was a simple question, so what was the matter with the answer?

"No, we don't hate each other. It is hard for sisters to hate each other, and amazingly we have still come to love each other, even through everything that has happened. Our parents were slaughtered by a gaki and I swore vengeance against him. My dear sister had befriended him for a time being, though she caused him more annoyance when he could barely tolerate it. She....she also adopted a new family as her own...and.........and I felt that she was shaming our parents...but then I was only fifteen," Cody explained with a slight far-away look in her eyes. "I as a grown person, can now understand why....but it still hurts."

"And that's why Mariko said she considered Anubis her father. Now it makes sense," Rowen mused to himself. "But what Ryo talking about?"

Cody chuckled, "It appears that Mariko is still the key to their hatred. From what I recall, she was what kept them civil towards each other." She then frowned, "I wonder what Anubis actually told him. I have a feeling he used memories to support whatever he told Wildfire."

"Cody," Robyn began, "what just happened? You passed out and I had this majorly sharp pain in my chest. Kinda like heart burn, but way worse."

Rowen raised an eyebrow as Cody looked out the large bay window across the bed and behind him. She bit her lower lip in concentration or contemplation before sighing, obviously reaching some type of conclusion. Her shoulders drooped as she continued to stare out the window.

"What I am about to tell is not to be repeated to anyone, not even the other Ronins. All of us newer Ronins know because of our armors and Josh knows because Julien was his brother," said Cody firmly, looking both of them in the eye...though her gaze seemed to linger a bit longer with Rowen's.

Rowen nodded his head.

Robyn also nodded, "All right....why do I get the feeling that this is what Mariko said would be discussed later?"

"Because it is."

"Oh."

Rowen chuckled softly at Robyn's answer; at least she was feeling better. A day or two ago, she was so weak it took most her strength to sit up and have a fifteen-minute conversation. And her voice had been so hoarse that they were all amazed in how quickly she had recovered it. Cye had even inquired if Sage had helped heal her, but he had said no. Rowen had wondered if Sage had said that just so he would not be asked why; however, he had dismissed that thought by Sage's attitude from their conversation earlier that day.

"About five years ago, my sister had been working at a nightclub...which was sometimes called the 'whore club' or 'whorehouse' and was the owner's favorite subordinate. She served as his primary assassin because of her skills and....because of her armor. I still to this day cannot understand how she was able to hold her stomach with what he had her do at times. But I suppose serving under Talpa would harden any soldier into at least keeping his lunch.

One night during her waitress shift, two young men sat down at one of her tables, watching the crowd of dancers casually and the drunks a bit too intently. Well, the two men turned out to be gakis. She sensed them because of her armor and they sensed her because of her armor as well. But the three of them had something in common, they were weary of so much killing, weary of spilling so much human blood....and they somehow became friends.

During her off shift hours Mariko would go and visit the two gakis; they would explain the concepts and the nature of all gakis and she in turn gave them a level of trust they had never received from a mortal. Eventually, about six months later, one gaki began to fall in love with her and she also began to fall in love with him. Mariko and the gaki eventually came to love one another. As odd as it sounds, they honestly did love each other. She always said that it was just like loving the real person, only now he was a gaki. You see, the person's personality and beliefs still live on after being assimilated by a gaki. So if one did not know better, you would never suspect a person to be a gaki. I had the pleasure of meeting this gaki my sister loved at one point.......before he was destroyed by those we are now fighting against."

Robyn raised an eyebrow at Cody's explanation, "And what does that have to do with the pain we felt?"

Cody frowned slightly, "The two gakis were Julien and Joshua. When Julien was murdered in front of Mariko's eyes and her not being able to do a single thing to save him, her soul was in anguish. And that pain was then relayed to our souls through the other new armors. We all felt her pain and anguish as well as hatred."

"So are you saying that it was Mariko's pain you felt tonight?" Rowen asked, frowning as Cody shook her head.

"No, Mariko was a trained samurai, trained to keep her emotions balanced. What Robyn and I felt was a mortal's agony, an untrained mortal. This agony was erratic while Mariko's had been orderly, not indecisive."

"So what are you suggesting?"

"My guess would be that this mortal is a child."

"Why a kid?" Robyn asked, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Even an adult has some degree of control over their emotions, but a child…"

"But a kid who is so young and doesn't understand what's going on…they let their emotions run wild," Rowen finished for Cody, seeing where her reasoning was coming from.

"Bingo blue-boy," she said, miming a fake gunshot with her hand. Rowen frowned at the name she had called him. He barely knew this person and she was already calling him names?

"Sorry," she apologized politely. Rowen shrugged it off…Robyn had called him worse things, before they had even really known each other.

"So that was a little kid? How many armors are there?" Rowen heard Robyn ask.

Cody shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "No clue."

Rowen rolled his eyes, "Great. We're supposed to fight an enemy and we don't even know how many there are."

"Not all the armors are enemies, 'tis just Dragon. However," Cody paused, "we must not let any untrained armor wearer fall into his hands. He'll train them to be a mindless killer."

"What?!"

"Even a little kid?" Robyn asked.

Cody nodded, "A child is even better than a teenager. Teenagers have their own set of mind but a child…a child is the perfect type of clay to be shaped into the pottery of one's choice."

* * *

Her lungs hurt but the pain in her hands were beginning to fade as Mariko raced home. She knew Scott would take Matt there. Home was the first place they all went to when they were hurt. She continued to race to the apartment district of Toyama, dodging around people and narrowly missing an elderly woman.

After ten more minutes of non-stop running, Mariko could see the apartments looming over head and smiled. It wouldn't take her more than three minutes to get home now. She burst through the lobby of the apartment building they lived in and did not bother to pause and wait for the elevator; she raced on up the twelve flights of stairs, pulling out the keys and hurriedly trying to unlock the door.

Once in, she closed the door and locked it before moving to the living room upon hearing muffled sobs. Her heart leapt to her throat as she saw the young purple-haired boy curled into a fetal position in the middle of the floor. She saw Scott nearby, keeping vigilance by the window and an eye on the front door.

Carefully, Mariko sat down next to Matt and reached out to touch his head gently. His muffled sobs paused long enough for him to look up at her, his beautiful sapphire eyes wide and watery. He moved so swiftly that she barely had time to catch herself from falling over as he wrapped his arms around her and cried. She tenderly pulled him into her lap, rocking both of them and whispered words of comfort as he shook slightly.

Guilt rose in her as she continued to comfort the boy. Mariko looked down at Matt to make sure she was right. Yes, his armor had changed his image to a young ten-year-old boy and not the twenty-eight-year old from earlier that night. How often did a man cry? Very rarely and Mariko knew that Matt had to have been in serious pain for him to cry like this.

The guilt continued to swell as his sobs echoed in his ears; how much could a person take? A young seven year old who becomes a vampire because he was going to die and would now live for hundreds of years, gaining an armor at thirteen and then this? She had stubbornly tried to be there for him ever since he had joined them; she had even left a few of her more favored lectures to be there for him, comforting him.

Matt had confided that no one had been there for him when he had become a vampire and that was when she had promised him that she would always be there for him. It was her nature to love and care for her friends and perhaps partially because of her armor. Mariko always aspired to give hope to everyone, no matter how dismal the situation. Hope was her kanji, she couldn't go against it.

"Mari…" she heard him whisper. She patted his back comfortingly and he looked up at her.

"Now," she began, smiling slightly, "are you all right? Have you finished your good cry?"

He frowned up at her, "Sadist."

She shrugged nonchalantly before allowing her thoughts to wander. She bit her lower lip. Had Robyn felt that? Were both Cody and Robyn all right?

* * *

Karasu watched the throng of people moving to the beat of the music as he idly held his shot of vodka in his hand. He was tired of all this, Gods was he tired. That seventeen year-old had reminded him how cruel he was…killing to survive. He downed his shot in one gulp and placed it on the bar counter, motioning for the bar tender give him another.

He surveyed the people entering the club now, musing how careless some were and how magnificent others were, magnificent and innocent. He stiffened slightly as his eyes made contact with another. Those gold eyes were cruel and cold, much like Gaea's when he'd destroyed her parents. The owner of those gold eyes moved towards him and sat down next to him.

"Karasu…" the young man said casually. It took him a moment to recognize the young man.

"Hello Hidoro," said Karasu, grinning, "Or should I say Joshua?"

"Which ever."

"Very well then…what brings you here?"

"Certainly not a fight. Any one worth getting rid of?" Joshua asked, turning to look out at the masses of humans in one smooth motion.

Karasu eyed him suspiciously but recognized that look of hunger…the soul gaki had gone too long with out feeding. Sighing, Karasu friendly pointed out a few possibilities and watched as Joshua nodded in approval.

"Thanks," the soul gaki said, ordering a drink in the process.

"Josh," began Karasu, fidgeting slightly, "Do you remember what Phoenix said? About no one controlling another's destiny?"

He watched as the young man nodded. Karasu was not used to seeing Joshua in a different form and the handsome Puerto Rican before him unnerved him slightly; the soul gaki preferred the façade of Joshua to any other but Karasu understood the soul gaki's reasoning…Joshua's appearance would be too noticeable here.

"Yes…what about it?" Joshua asked, not sure where this was going.

"Does that apply to me as well?"

Joshua looked at him in surprise before frowning, "Why wouldn't that apply to you?"

Karasu opened his mouth to reply but found that he had no good reason. "I've killed to survive…Dragon provides me with my meals," he finally said.

Joshua shook his head.

"That isn't the right reason," Karasu stated, hanging his head slightly.

"Dragon is going to fall after the upcoming battles, Karasu."

"I know…I've suspected it…"

"All right then."

There was an almost uncomfortable pause between the two, until Joshua spoke again.

"How has your master been fairing?"

"Quite well actually…there's another one of those blasted armors again, isn't there?"

Karasu watched as the man next to him nodded. Sighing, he idly swirled his drink around in its confines. He had suspected something had happened…and why else would Josh be here? The soul gaki was keeping an eye on Dragon during the others' moment of vulnerability.

"I'd like to help if possible," Karasu suddenly said and he held his breath as he waited for Josh's answer.

"I figured you would," said Joshua after a moment's thought.

Silence passed between them again until Joshua stood, finished with his drink.

"I'll tell Mari you said hello," the soul gaki stated, and Karasu recognized the hidden meaning in the phrase. He would tell Phoenix about his wish to help.

"If you would please…" Karasu began, catching Joshua before he made his way towards one of the possibilities the former had pointed out, "give Gaea my deepest apologies?"

"Sure thing."

Karasu watched the soul gaki move to a darkened corner and shift into a gorgeous Puerto Rican woman with gold eyes. Turning around to the bar counter, Karasu downed his last shot of vodka, ignoring the Puerto Rican woman who cajoled the drunken kidnapper to step outside with her for good.

_I want out of this as soon as possible…Dragon, you're not going to survive this…you truly are an idiot._

* * *

Cye's eyes darted across the darkened walkway as he closed the distance between himself and Toyama hospital, his body tense and alert. Mariko had warned him about the habitual feeding time of vampires and the knowledge did nothing to comfort him as he walked alone; in fact, he rather wished to be facing Dynasty soldiers…at least then he knew how to defend himself. The current situation left him feeling somewhat helpless…he had no idea how to **really** defend himself against a vampire or gaki, and with that being the case…how was he supposed to protect Robyn?

For that was what he was truly worried about…Robyn's safety.

A sudden scream filled the streets and before he knew it, Cye was running towards the sound, turning a corner and stopping dead in his tracks.

A menacing cloud of red, dense fog floated in the alley, hovering over a terrified man. As Cye watched the man disappear within the dense fog and his final scream resounding in his ears, he finally realized what Mariko had been trying to convey. When soul-gakis took their fog shapes…they were impossible to destroy.

Cye was brought back to the present situation as the fog moved, almost turning, and felt his breath catch in his throat. A pair of red eyes seemed to be staring at him, urging him to run, scream…die.

In a flash his subarmor was on and he took a fighting stance, not allowing those eyes to intimidate him. Especially with the hospital being so close…he couldn't let it get near the hospital. He tensed as the fog began to shape and form the figure of a young woman; the fog solidified and Cye found himself in front of a tall blonde with red eyes.

She calmly walked towards him and stopped, looking at him with an expression of admiration. Flipping her lose hair over one shoulder, she walked past him and down the street, away from the hospital.

In fact, it seemed as if she was checking the perimeter of the Toyama Hospital area.

"Tell your Red to do some research on vampirism," was all she said as she changed into a bank of red fog once in the alley across the street.

Confused, Cye stood and waited a few moments in case she came back. Banishing his subarmor, he hesitantly turned and continued to the hospital. What had that been about? Who was she? That couldn't have been Joshua could it?

* * *

Scott ducked behind a building as he saw a young Puerto Rican woman with gold eyes flirt determinedly with a drunk man in an alley near a twenty-five and over club. He recognized those gold eyes and prayed that they would not look his way; otherwise he would have to come up with a damn good excuse as to why he was here at this particular club. He did not have one, at least not a trustworthy one.

Besides, he had a few things to discuss with a certain Tregarde, like a certain redhead's safety, and he wanted it to be private. Stealthily, he moved towards the club and entered through the back door, sighing in relief once inside. From what he could tell, Joshua had not noticed him, but Joshua was in the middle of feeding and he usually focused on his prey when he prolonged his meals, which he usually did.

He caught sight of the flesh gaki Karasu, and frowned. He was not supposed to be here! IF that gaki saw him, his cover would be blown and his allies would rip him to shreds! He cursed his luck. Why was this happening to him? He had had to give Mariko some stupid excuse about why he needed to leave, he had then escaped another soul gaki that was running around the city, he had slipped past Joshua unnoticed, and now he had to try and reach Tregarde without catching the flesh gaki's attention!

This was not his night.

_Curse Lady Lucky, that's what I say,_ he thought to himself, frowning.

Seeing an opportunity arise when Karasu turned his head, Scott ducked into a corner and made his way up a flight of stairs as quickly as possible. Now all he had to do was survive this meeting and the Dragon's wrath. Scott knew that Tregarde was going to be unhappy with this newfound…situation. Scott did not want any of Tregarde's henchmen around Red. Robyn did not need that stress and besides…she was one of the few who seemed to not care about him having to manipulate and kill people in order to live.

Her openness towards others and attempts to be friendly were what had changed his mind about her in the first place. Scott had originally thought that she was just another stupid mortal who had no grip on reality. Who would have guessed that her friends were the original, or orijinaru as Mariko called them, Ronins? He certainly hadn't.

Steeling himself, Scott prepared for the tongue-lashing he knew was going to come. He would not allow 'no' to be the final answer. He owed Robyn that for all the kindness and joviality she had shown towards him. He owed her that and more; however, this was all he could do for her at the moment.

_Sorry Red, not everyone is what you want to believe they are…_

* * *

Rowen looked up, slightly surprised at Cye's wide eyes. His hair was windblown but there was no wind outside, which meant he had to have been running. His chest was also heaving up and down. He heard Robyn gasp slightly.

"Cye?" Rowen inquired worriedly. Granted he and Cye had not gotten along well together in the past but Cye looked like he had seen Talpa come back with triple the army!

Panting still, Cye leaned against the now closed hospital door to Robyn's room. He was looking at Cody curiously.

"Was Joshua, that is the soul gaki's name right, supposed to be watching this area of Toyama?" Cye asked between breaths. He was watching Cody intently and Rowen turned to look at the new Ronin expectantly.

The young woman who beared the armor of Gaea frowned in concern, "No, he was not…why?"

Rowen watched as Cye moved to the window and closed the curtains as if to keep anyone from knowing that they were there in the hospital room.

"Cye…stop acting like you saw a ghost and spit out what's bugging you," Robyn said in warning tone and Rowen had to suppress a chuckle as the bearer of Torrent was slightly startled at the young redhead's bluntness. Not that he should be; they had all established long ago that she was blunt!

"I saw…a bank of red fog…" Cye took another breath before continuing, "and it turned into a person-a blonde woman-who told me to tell you Robyn that you should study vampirism. Then she walked across this street and turned back into fog."

Study vampires? How did this woman know about all that was happening?

"What color eyes did she have?"

Rowen looked at Cody strangely; what did eyes have to do with all of this? Rowen could tell from the look that Robyn was giving Cody that she completely agreed with him.

Cye seemed to be un-phased by the question however, for he quickly answered it. "She had red eyes…I could see them when she looked at me from that bank of fog."

Cody chuckled breathlessly, "Be happy you're alive! You just survived an encounter with a soul-gaki in its most deadliest form!"

"A thing of fog?" Robyn asked doubtfully and raising an eyebrow in a manner that meant she was not convinced at all.

Cody nodded. "Yes, you can't destroy them when they are a bank of fog. It is possible though, if you destroy them in their human state, what ever THAT maybe."

"So who was that I saw?!" Cye asked almost hysterically.

_He really needs to get some rest_, thought Rowen as he noticed how ragged Cye was beginning to look. _Maybe he will once Robyn gets a bit better…_

"I do not know…not Joshua, that's for sure. You would have seen gold eyes if it was him," was all Cody said as she stood. She grabbed a denim-colored cloak with silver and extremely pale pink embroidered ribbon and place it over her shoulders. "Tis late and I should be going. I'll inform Mariko of this new…visitor of Toyama. Sleep well, don't worry. We'll have someone watching the hospital perimeter for tonight."

Rowen looked at his watch; it was later than he had thought, an hour later since every one had left at five after eight that evening. Shrugging, he stood as well and stretched his arms above his head, hearing a few joints pop here and there.

He smiled reassuringly, "You want me to start telephone tag and tell the others too?"

Robyn shrugged her shoulders, "Doesn't matter to me."

Cye nodded, "Just so they'll know what's going on should something happen."

Nodding, Rowen said his good-byes and made his way out of the hospital.

Upon leaving the building, he spotted Cody standing off next to another building not a block from where he was, hand placed upon the side of the brick and concrete, as if hurt. Cautiously he walked over towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder to gain her attention.

Her maroon eyes looked up and met his crystalline blue ones and for a moment, Rowen thought he saw a flicker of emotion in her usually dull and emotionless eyes. It was with her shuddering breath that he concluded that she was in pain.

Rowen asked what was wrong but her only answer for him was to look at the building and hang her head. It was a few moments before she spoke in a hushed tone, voice wavering.

"They killed a tree to place this building here. The tree was very old…hundred of years old…"

He frowned at this. She was upset because of that?

_Wait a minute! Gaea is earth…that's why……she's connected to the earth and when the earth is in pain, she's in…_

Another suppressed sob escaped the forest-green woman's lips as she proceeded to say something in a different language. The words were spoken in a chant-like state, a prayer perhaps. Maybe a safe departure prayer?

"I never really liked hospital's because the doctors don't believe in herbal medicine as much as tribal doctors do," she confided in him. "My sister and I are Native American in heritage and our father was supposed to be studying here, learning new herbal medicines and the such. I gained his love for that while Mari gained mother's love for art and Asian cultures."

His guess was now beginning to seem accurate.

"So, does that mean you are against all modern doctors? 'Cause I seriously doubt that a tribal doctor could have concocted a medicine to relieve my brain malformation," he joked lightly. She smiled and removed her hand from the building, standing erect and alert.

"No…not entirely. I admit that modern doctors are useful for some things…but not all." She bowed slightly and said good night, turning to leave.

"If you ever need to talk to some one and vent about modern technology, let me know. I hate the light pollution the city causes," Rowen offered, feeling compelled by some unknown force to do so.

A gentle smile appeared on Cody's face and Rowen could not help but smile back. Both she and Mariko had a soldier façade they hid behind in battle for obvious reasons, but Mariko seemed lighter about using it. Cody gave the impression that she preferred to keep herself distant from others…kind of reminded him of a blond friend he had.

She nodded in acceptance of the offer and flipped the hood of her cloak up, walking down one street opposite the way he was going. Rowen watched her for a moment until she disappeared in the darkness before heading home quickly to begin calling the others and relay the info about this new gaki.

* * *

Chun Fa grabbed another crayon with her small chubby hand and began to color a smiling sun on her partially white piece of paper. There was already a stick figure with red hair and a smaller stick figure with dark blue hair standing outside in green grass and smiling flowers. She wanted to hurry and finish so she could give it to Kento before her bedtime came.

Though she was STILL a bit skeptical of Robyn, Chun Fa liked her. She was no longer worried about Robyn taking Cye's attention away from her and she had to give the older girl some credit. She was no fool when it came to babysitting. Besides, she could read stories in the best voices!

Setting down her yellow crayon, Chun Fa admired her artwork for a moment before grabbing an array of colored crayons and going to the kitchen where Mama Faun was. She scrambled up to the kitchen counter using a step stool and placed her picture and crayons on the counter, looking at Mama Faun expectantly.

Mama Faun paused in her cleaning the kitchen and looked at her daughter, a slight questioning smile on her face. "And what are you up to little one?" she asked, moving towards her daughter.

"Mommy," Chun Fa began, picking up a blue crayon, "how do you spell 'Get Well'?"

Mama Faun's smile grew wider; already knowing the answer, she asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I am making a picture for Robyn. Kento said she was sick, and I was happy when I got a picture when I was sick."

"All right. G-E-T and then W-E-L-L," Mama Faun spelled slowly, allowing Chun Fa to write each letter in a different color. "Is that it?"

"How do you spell Robyn?"

"R-O-B-Y-N."

Chun Fa smiled happily and wrote her name on the side of the picture, "Thank you!"

Happy that her picture was finally done, Chun Fa raced out of the kitchen to find her oldest brother. She stopped as she found him on the phone in his room. Waiting quietly and patiently, she waved shyly at him to catch his attention.

---

"Yeah, okay. I'll call Ryo in just a sec. Channy wants something," and with that Kento was off the phone and looking at her curiously.

Chun Fa bounded into her brother's room and jumped on the bed, bouncing as she handed her picture to him.

"It's for Robyn because she is sick," she explained as he took the picture, continuing to jump on his bed. He looked at the picture for a minute and grinned, nodding his head.

"I'll give it to her tomorrow, okay?" he offered.

She grinned back, "Deal!"

Chun Fa bounced one more time and then left her brother to call his friend Ryo. She felt very happy that she could do something for Robyn finally. After all, Robyn had been the one to tell the scary man in the closet to leave. And he hadn't been back since.

* * *

Ryo sat up straight from where he had been lounging on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV uninterestedly. Now, he was definitely not interested in the TV. There was another threat?

"You're sure? Another gaki?" he asked Kento.

"Well, that's what Ro told me and he says that that's what Cye told Cody," came the reply.

Ryo groaned and laid his head in his hand. This just kept getting better and better.

"How's Robyn taking all of this?"

"Rowen says she didn't care."

"Come on Kento, we all know her better than that."

"Yeah but—never mind, look, I'm just doing the telephone tag. Don't forget to call Sage before he goes to bed."

"Okay, see ya tomorrow Kento. Take care man."

"Yeah, it's my turn to read Channy a story so I better go."

Ryo chuckled, "Tell the squirt I said hi."

"Will do."

With that Ryo hanged the phone back in its cradle and flopped back down on the couch, taking the TV off mute. Worry filled his thoughts as he recalled what Kento had said. Robyn had not cared.

They all knew that she cared even if she denied it and Ryo was not sure how bad she was **actually** taking it. She was supposed to be getting out of the hospital soon though, it had been a few days and she was looking much better. Her spirits were back and high as usual so she would be fine in no time, if this whole situation did not drive her to paranoia or something.

Heaving a heavy sigh, the bearer of Wildfire picked up the phone and dialed Sage's number, hoping to catch him before he went to bed.

* * *

Sage glared crossly at the ringing house appliance. Who would be calling now at this hour? He quickly came up with a reasonable answer to that. His mother was either calling to let them know she would be home late, or she had to stay the whole night. Half-heartedly, he moved to answer the annoying contraption when the answering machine did not pick it up. He was slightly surprised when he found it was Ryo.

"Ryo? What's wrong?" he asked placidly.

"Kento just called and told me that there is another gaki runnin' around the city," replied Ryo wearily.

Sage nodded though Ryo would never know. He could understand how Ryo felt because in fact felt very much the same. He had been battling with himself about where Robyn stood with him. Yes she was his friend…but should he try to get to know her a little more like the others had? He found her exasperating most of the time with her childish antics but he dismissed most of it as her own way of making up for a childhood she never had and deserved to have.

"Do the new Ronins know who this new one is?" he asked. One could never be too cautious.

"No, not from what I can tell."

"All right then, I'll call Rowen and let him know."

"Rowen already knows. He called Kento and Cye already knows cause he told Rowen."

Sage frowned; he had been the last to know? He rolled his eyes; did he ever feel this special before or what? "Fine, I'll see you all tomorrow then."

"Okay, night Sage."

"Yeah, good-night Ryo."

Sage hanged the phone up and proceeded to pack his school belongs back into his book-bag, then headed to his room. Changing into his pajamas, his mind meandered over the new set of information. Perhaps he should meditate before going to sleep. It would certainly help clear his mind and then maybe those dreams would not plague his sleep this time.

He lit a candle, placed it in the middle of the floor and sat in a lotus position, concentrating on purging his mind of the scattered thoughts that were running a mile a second.

It was an hour or so later when he pulled himself from meditating and into bed. He prayed that the dream he had had since the day Cye had told them that Robyn had not called, would not come back. It was about as scary as the one he had had when she first arrived. Sage frowned before he fell asleep. HE was always losing sleep because of her.

_He found himself in a void of darkness and he had to suppress a shudder as the darkness threatened to sweep over his existence. He moved around, searching for __**something**__ in the total, black void. He paused as he heard faint sobbing, and the sobs sounded frighteningly familiar. He moved stealthily toward them, unable to see anything in the void._

_His efforts were suddenly ineffective as he came up against an invisible wall. Not one to give up so easily, Sage moved along the invisible obstacle in hopes of finding an entrance. He paused as excruciatingly pain-filled screaming abruptly reverberated in his ears._

_Those screams…those screams were so familiar…_

_His heart clenched in a way it had only done once before and that was when Robyn was helpless to fight off Nago. Those screams were the same when Nago had placed the redhead's hand on Ryo's molten hot armor chest plate and burned her hand raw. Throat convulsing, Sage pounded on the invisible wall in futile attempts to reach his female companion. There was one last final scream from her before a charred skeleton appeared before him, frozen in a grotesque form of fear and terror._

_"No…" he whispered, "Robyn, I'm sorry."_


	9. Too Many Plans

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Eight: Too Many Plans

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

Somebody told me the wrong way

What if I died?

What did I give?

I hope it was an answer so you might live

I hope it helped you live

I hope it helped you live

_**Creed, "Wrong Way"**_

* * *

Arain looked up at his laptop as it announced that he had an instant message. Hoping it was from one of his friends in Italy, he jumped up excitedly, bounded over to his makeshift desk and read the message. He frowned when he did not recognize the sender.

He closed the message without bothering to respond and prepared to finish his homework but paused as another message appeared, from the same sender.

Arain read this message as well and suppressed a shudder at what it said.

_Have you had any dreams lately?_

He shook his head in annoyance as he tried to block the sender but growled when it did not work. Arain froze; the server said there was no such screen name on the entire net. How was that even possible? His vibrant gray eyes widened as the IM displayed another message.

_You can't run from destiny. Embrace your fate and join us._

"Who are you?" Arain wrote back. A reply was sent almost immediately afterwards.

_I am your future, Arain._

"Who are you?!" he wrote back again.

_As I said, I am your future. Do not worry, we will become one very soon, Arain. We'll be together as one soon…_

Arain shivered as an icy finger wisped down his spine. He closed the message and sighed in relief as nothing happened after he did so. He signed off the Internet and went back to the bed next to the two large windows and his homework. He had only a few more assignments left to finish and he wanted to hurry so he could go outside and see if the neighbor's large white tiger was around.

If not he would find something to do; though he could not practice his archery since Lyn had forbid the harmful objects anywhere near the house. Though he did have his soccer ball and she had said nothing about that.

---

The bright afternoon sun found the young blond haired boy out in the back yard of his aunt's house, kicking a soccer ball against the back fence.

Usually, that would be fun, but not for this eleven-year-old boy. He greatly wanted his bow, arrows, and cork target.

Kicking the black and white ball again, Arain plopped down on the grass and watched as the soccer ball bounced off the fence and rolled back to him. He plucked a few blades of grass and closed his eyes, smiling as the sun kissed his blond head. The sunlight always cleansed him of troubles and fears…as if washing away the whole world from existence. Many times he had wished that the sun would do just that but wash away just his father, George Niente.

A cold nose against his face brought Arain out of his thoughts. Eyes now opened, Arain stared into a pair of ancient brown ones, eyes that held knowledge and compassion; he found himself nose to nose with a large white tiger.

"Oh, it's you," Arain said slightly relieved and making no notion to move. He was quite happy sitting down at the moment. He was tired of kicking the soccer ball around with no opponent…and he did not consider the tiger an opponent. More like nemesis for claim of the soccer ball.

White Blaze would have none of that though, so he went and fetched the discarded soccer ball from earlier. He dropped the ball in Arain's lap, and then waited for the boy to move.

Arain looked at the tiger unenthusiastically. The last time he and the tiger had tried to play soccer ended up being Arain chasing the animal around the large yard to retrieve **his** soccer ball before going in for supper. He sighed in defeat.

"You like making me work to get MY soccer ball away from you…don't you White Blaze?" he asked, stressing the word 'my.'

White Blaze merely watched him intently, as if studying him.

Arain nodded, "Fine. I've been practicing so be prepared to lose cat."

"You better be careful. He's giving you the 'You're my prey' look," a voice said.

Arain turned to find the raven-haired young man from next door, leaning against the fence, grinning as if he knew something was about to happen.

Arain suddenly fell face first into the dirt, a heavy weight on his back. He sputtered, trying to rid the grass from his mouth and craned his head to look behind him. White Blaze had a massive paw placed on his back, pinning him to ground effectively.

"Not fair!" he yelled at the beast, flailing his arms in pathetic attempts to free himself.

When White Blaze continued to look at him, brown eyes almost laughing, Arain turned to the youth at the fence.

"Could I please have a bit of help?"

Chuckling, Ryo leapt over the fence and wrestled the tiger off of him.

"Jeez Blaze," Ryo grunted, still pulling the large feline off the boy, "We need to put on a diet or somethin'. You've gotten heavier."

Arain scrambled away and moved to help Ryo when White Blaze decided he wished to continue his game of pouncing. Both Ryo and Arain exchanged unsure glances as they both dodged the tiger.

"You go that way, I'll go this way," Ryo announced and Arain nodded. "On three. One…two…three!"

Both ran in opposite directions, hoping to confuse White Blaze, which only seemed to cause the tiger to pause for a moments thought.

The afternoon sun watched as two youngsters ran around the yard, trying to keep from being playfully pounced on by the large white tiger.

---

The setting sun on the other hand, found the two youths breathing heavily and laying on their backs, staring up at the sky. White Blaze was off a few yards away, grooming himself after a satisfying game of chase and pounce.

Ryo decided to ask a question at random, now that they had regulated their heartbeats and breathing back to normal.

"Got any names I should know about just in case you're aunt makes a surprise visit out here and calls you somethin' silly," he asked the blond eleven-year-old next to him.

Arain gave him an odd look.

"What? My grandma does it from time to time! She tells me to go scare the new neighbors with White Blaze…whenever we **get** new neighbors."

Arain laughed at that comment; "How often is that?" he asked curiously.

Ryo shrugged, "Depends on whether or not I do what she tells me to and how long it takes for Blaze to venture over there on his own time. Either way, six or eight months."

"Six or eight months? Man, they must be real wimps. I think it's cool!"

"You're also eleven."

"So? Well, my mom had this nickname for me when I was really little. She used to call me Phoebus."

Ryo shook his head. Phoebus? Wasn't that a name of a god or something? He made a mental note to remember and ask Rowen about it later. Especially since those new armors had a slight trend in names referring to ethereal creatures and personas.

"So, you're from Italy, right?" Ryo asked. It had been obvious to him that the kid had been taking the adjustment fairly hard. Especially by the way he had acted when he had introduced himself and White Blaze for the first time.

Arain grew somber quite rapidly and Ryo wondered if having even brought up the subject of the kid's home was too soon.

"Yes, about twenty minutes or so's drive to Naples. My mom works at a big computer firm in the city and George—my dad owns a vineyard and winery…" Arain's voice trailed off.

Ryo turned his head to look at the boy. He had a feeling that the boy's sudden visit was due to family problems. Perhaps abuse? Certainly not as bad as Robyn's…right? How often was abuse as bad as what Robyn went through? Though he did not know the whole story behind Robyn's parents, he had a feeling that it was a rare occurrence.

"Arain! Dinner's ready! Come in and eat please!"

Ryo smiled and stood, brushing blades of grass from his clothing; he knew what the dinner call meant.

"Hey kid," he called to Arain, "If you ever need to talk, let me know."

The boy nodded and raced inside his home.

Ryo looked over at White Blaze and crossed his arms. "Come on free-loader. You've had **you're** fun."

With that Ryo hopped back over to his side of the fence and headed towards the house, curious as to what Grandma was making for their dinner. He faintly heard White Blaze jump over the fence as he went inside.

* * *

Mariko nodded as Cody relayed the new information to her. It was the younger twin's shift at the hospital and Dr. Date had just announced that tomorrow Robyn was able to return home; however, with strict orders for two more days worth of bed rest.

"All right then, Yang. No, don't give me that excuse…oi! Look who's talking! Brat…iie, no and I mean it!" Mariko stated, noticing that Sage was now looking at her skeptically. Leave it to her baby sister to get all in a huff because she had informed her that Robyn would be fine eating the hospital food. She rolled her eyes as her sister continued spouting off random curses in Spanish, which made no difference to Mariko since she was not fluent in Spanish anyway.

_She forgets that I took French!_ Mariko thought to herself as her sister finally calmed down.

"So what do you want me to do? Halo's mother wants to know where Robyn will be staying since Cye will have to be in school. Not only that but Torrent's home will be the first place they look, Ying," Cody reasoned.

"That soon huh? Mon dieu, je ne sais pas!" Mariko said in French. Of course it was to get back at Cody for speaking Spanish but she knew she would need to clarify for her sister. She could almost see the little question marks floating around her sister's head. "Sorry," she lied, "what I said was, 'My Lord, I don't know.' See if Miss Koji will board the guardian for the time being."

The last comment had obviously caught Halo's attention because he immediately moved to stand next to her, though never too close. Mariko assumed it was because of when they had first met and shook hands. Their armors had naturally reacted to each other. Though Halo did not know it, while her skin burned to his touch, his aura had flashed so brightly that she had to retreat form the astral plane at a disturbingly fast pace. Too fast for her comfort that is.

"Fine, I'll speak with Miss Koji. Mari, I need to talk to you about something later on…about one of the other Ronins…" Cody replied somewhat sheepishly.

Mariko blinked and looked at the receiver before answering her younger twin, "I'll see you later this evening at the apartment then, Cody-chan?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mariko glanced up at the bearer of Halo as he looked at her expectantly before placing the phone back in its cradle. She raised a brow at his gaze before moving towards the door. She had some research of her own to do and she needed to discover the meaning of her newfound research as soon as possible. Halo would either come to her, Cody or Miss Mia Koji when he felt like asking for information on what the phone conversation had been about.

"Well?" she heard him question. She paused at the doorway and looked at him; he posed the question sooner than she had expected him to. He immediately directed a glare in her direction when she did not answer him immediately and she reciprocated the gesture.

"Well what Halo? Why do you care so much? From your actions I have gained the assumption that you care nothing of the guardian Robyn," Mariko snapped at him. She regretted having used those harsh words, however and mentally kicked herself for doing so; she had just witnessed Halo's own mask of indifference slip for a moment's pass.

"Please forgive my accusation…" she quickly apologized, but paused when he shook his head.

"What is going on with Robyn?" Sage asked her, ignoring the accusation and apology. He obviously was more interested in what was going on with Robyn and Mariko knew she had definitely been wrong about him. He cared about Robyn's safety and that was enough to leave her in a slight stupor.

"She will be released from the hospital by tomorrow but with strict orders of two more days worth of rest," Mariko replied solemnly. She had no need to alarm him of the possible attempts of kidnapping that _could_ take place.

If Robyn were to stay at Miss Koji's, Josh and herself along with Cody and Scott would be there to protect her. Not only that but if for some reason none were around to protect the redhead, Cody's 'little' pet would protect her. Shadow was large enough to strike fear into any vampire, Scott was always wary of the large beast and even Josh avoided the beast when it was in a foul mood.

"That soon?" Sage questioned, looking at her suspiciously.

Mariko crossed her arms and took an almost motherly stance unconsciously. Matt had given her that look many times in the past and she never let him get away with it, so why should Halo?

"Don't give me that look mister! I do not deserve such a look! I am merely informing you of the current events. Besides, it's your mother's medical clearance that is getting Robyn out of the hospital tomorrow. Ask her for details if you like."

The bearer of Halo seemed slightly taken back at the sudden scolding but brushed it off with a glare and a shrug rather quickly. They all were growing tired from worry and most of them were brushing things off that they normally would not.

Mariko then noticed how exhausted he looked…as if he had been lacking sleep for the past few days. Narrowing her eyes, she continued to cross her arms and fixed him with an almost motherly glare, if not that then an older sister one.

"Halo…you seem sleep-deprived…is something bothering you?"

He glared back at her, "It is none of your concern."

"Oh but it is…should it hinder the rest of our abilities to keep this realm safe."

Sage continued to glare at her and she returned the glare back readily and steadily. Halo was the first to break eye contact and moved past her, preparing to return to his practice. Yes, they were all growing exhausted and easily ready to surrender any fights that occurred amongst themselves.

"Halo, I'm serious. Do not allow this distraction to continue for long…for Robyn's sake at least."

She watched him pause to look at her placidly before nodding and walking off.

Well, at least he had not tried denying the fact that something was bothering him…now if he would only seek help.

_One miracle at a time I suppose…but the hope always remains…as long as I'm alive, hope will always be present…even in the most grim situations._

_---_

Mariko's words had cut him and he did not like that fact one little bit. It was bad enough that he was losing sleep because of Robyn (though it was not EXACTLY her fault), worse that his schoolwork was beginning to slip due to his lack of sleep, and now Mariko KNEW he was not sleeping well.

It would be just my luck that she goes and mentions it to the others, Sage thought to himself as went out to the empty practice floor. His father must have finished class slightly early for he was busy in his office, shuffling through various papers and there was no sign of a class in session.

Wishing to distract his mind, Sage picked up his usual practice sword and set to work on rehearsing katas he had memorized by heart.

_

* * *

_

Gold eyes narrowed to slits as Joshua found the prey he had been curious of. The young woman's blonde hair fell to her shoulders and was cropped at an angle and pulled out of her face with a wrap-around headband. Her eyes searched the crowd lazily as if trying to decide who the first victim would be. She must have sensed something, however, for she went rigid all of a sudden and her delicate brows shot upward in surprise as she searched the crowd for any one suspicious.

Fortunately for Joshua, he was on a second story balcony and she had no inkling to look upwards, for if she did, she would have found the cause of her sudden suspicion. Though the balcony gave Joshua a readily available way to follow the young woman without suspicion, the balcony prevented him from seeing her eye color. He had to make sure that this was the right woman for he did not want to have accidentally caught some innocent human instead of a soul gaki.

The woman abruptly got up from the little outside café, leaving a small amount of money on the table near her drink. She delicately pulled the hem of her black mini-skirt down before placed a pair of sunglasses over her eyes; however, Joshua caught a glimpse of the color her irises were. Red. The same shade of red as the sleeveless turtleneck she wore and the same shade of fresh blood.

"How appropriate for one who hunts as frequently as we do," he muttered at the irony. He stood and dissipated into a fogbank of gold, hovering out of sight from curious eyes and followed the young blonde woman. He had a few questions for her to answer, but would he be able to contain her long enough to ask those questions?

---

Joshua was almost hesitant as the young woman turned down one alley, but followed when she returned to the main sidewalks near the road. He continued to float leisurely, moving inconspicuously above the unsuspecting woman for about an hour until she paused and went into a 'novelty' store.

Stealthily, he floated into a nearby crevasse and solidified before casually moving across the street to the novelty store. He grimaced slightly as the air became thick inside, but the smell was exquisite. He looked down towards his left and then right, noting the sticks of incense burning in the gravel of potted plants on either side of the door.

He glanced around at the store; it was definitely a Mariko and Cody store, he surmised in one glance. It contained New Age and Native American goods, candles, jewelry of any kind, crystals of any kind, herbs, and books ranging from tarot reading to witchcraft to Buddhism to Taoism to Cook books! In fact, the store reminded him greatly of one in America where Mariko and Cody had worked at entitled Yesterday's Memories. He made a mental note to inform Mariko and Cody of this place.

"Can I help you sir?" a melodious voice inquired and Joshua turned to see the young woman he had been following appear from behind a curtain of midnight blue velvet.

"Yes, anything that has the scent of 'Dragon's Blood' would be a nice starter and speaking to a fellow hunter should follow that," he stated and smiled slyly at her confused look. She was a good actor, he gave her that…but they all had to be. He knew that he himself had to pretend to be clueless when confronted.

"The Dragon's Blood I can help you with but you wish to what?" she replied and jerked backwards as he stared right into her blood-red eyes. He swiftly moved next the counter she was standing behind and she quickly backed away. The fear in her red-eyes caused him to stop and doubt himself and his conclusion. Perhaps it was not her who was the gaki…but then who?

"You honestly do not know what I'm talking about do you?" he inquired in a matter of fact tone. He frowned when she nodded her head, smiling in an all-knowing manner.

"On the contrary, gaki," she said, laughing in such a way that a chill ran up Joshua's spine. "Identify yourself and perhaps we will have this conversation you so wish for."

"Joshua is the name, from the European region, soul."

The young woman nodded and eyed him consideringly. "What is it you wish to speak of, soul gaki?"

"Robyn, the red-haired young woman at the hospital. One of her friends said he saw you and that you mentioned something about studying vampires?"

"Hell's Fire! What now? I can only do so much for the yearling!"

Joshua narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean? And please do not call her a yearling…she may not live as long as we do but she is still an adult by the human standards."

"I gave her the marble…I honestly have never seen its aura glow as bright as it did with her."

"So you're saying you know what the marble is?"

"Yes, yes of course. It is a mystical armor! Any gaki who has lived in Japan and does not know legend of the armors and the demon of one thousand years past is a disgrace to us! Hell's Fire! I was there when Talpa entered this realm! Quite the bastard too."

Joshua chuckled, "Yes, I've heard that he has that affect on people. But why did you give it to Robyn? She isn't its bearer, you know."

The young woman nodded, "Yes, I noticed. Tell me Joshua…have you felt it? Have you felt that dark pulse lately?"

Joshua nodded slowly, "I've felt something out of place."

"Protect the girl at all costs Joshua…"

Joshua narrowed his eyes, "Why? What's going on?"

"She is the perfect one."

"Perfect one? Robyn?"

"The Empress is…"

"Who and what does the Empress have to do with all this? What is Robyn in all of this?"

"Have you not felt that void in her? The darkness that pulses through her despite her pure heart?"

Nodding, Joshua watched as the young woman sighed in exasperation.

"The Perfect One and the Empress are balanced."

"You never answered me…what does Robyn have to do with all this?"

"I'm not sure…but I suspect that she is the Perfect One."

"What does that mean?"

"She is the balance."

"I thought you said the Perfect one and the Empress were the balance?"

"The Perfect One and the Empress are one in the same. The more I think of it, the more I grow sure. Robyn is the Perfect One…the Empress…the balance."

* * *

Robyn watched idly as the sun set behind the tall buildings of the city, disappearing and splashing the sky with purple and black. The first few stars could be seen twinkling in the sky of black velvet, despite the light pollution the city produced. Sighing, she glanced at the door and wondered if anyone would visit her this evening. Most likely not since almost all of the Ronins, both old and new, had heard the news of her release tomorrow.

They are all making sure everything is safe no doubt. They're all just paranoid…she told herself as she gazed back out of the window. She couldn't blame them…she had been in the hospital for about eight days now.

It was a few minutes later when she heard a knock on her door, no more like a thump…

"Hello?" she called softly, waiting for an answer. When she received none, she moved to get out of bed just as a quiet shuffling sounded near the bay window. Robyn paused, the blankets of the hospital bed half folded back and one of her legs dangling over the edge of the bed.

A lump suddenly formed in her throat when she began to sense a disturbing presence. This was the same feeling she had when running around Tokyo…running for her life. They were here for her…and she would go. She would go with them, figure out what was going on, then escape and figure out a plan to end everything. She couldn't let the guys get involved and hurt because of her…not again.

Having decided on her course of action, Robyn swung her other leg over the edge. Yes, she would go with the enemy for now…but what if they planned to kill her?

"Robyn, we are here for you always…don't be afraid to ask us for help," Rowen had said that night when they all had that surprise meeting. Always there for her? After all she had put them through the first time?

No, she could not live with herself is she put them through all of that torture and pain again. But she knew they would be upset, more like furious, if she did something on her own. Then who could she ask for help? Mariko and Cody would help her! And they would not tell the others if she asked them not too!

So with new plans set in mind, Robyn swiftly lunged out of bed, thankful that she had her own clothes on now, and raced for the doorway. She heard more shuffling and the terrifying sensation of something pulling at her from the inside, almost as if to stop her from running.

Throwing open her hospital door, she found a young nurse sitting in the doorway and staring stupidly into space. The nurse seemed to be dead of individuality and life. A scream lodged itself in Robyn's throat as she bent down and shook the shoulder of the young woman, only to gain no response.

"Oh…my…God…" she squeaked and quickly stood up, stepping over the nurse's unmoving body. Oh the woman WAS alive for she was breathing but she was just so devoid of a desire to live, as if her mind had been shattered.

Now with no obstacles in her way, Robyn took off down the hallway, knowing very well that whatever had gotten the young nurse…would not hesitate to go after her. She had not gotten but a few paces away before she suddenly felt light and languid, slowing her pace. Then suddenly, all was black.

---

Scott wanted to gut himself like a fish right now as he shifted the weight of the young redhead on his shoulder. All she had ever done for him was out of kindness…and this was how he was repaying her. Taking her to the enemy to die.

He swiftly opened the back door of Tregarde's club and headed up the back stairs to Tregarde's office. Scott slowed his pace however, half way there…just to buy the kind redhead some time…and perhaps her friends would sense that something was wrong fairly soon. He didn't want the girl to be harmed…but after the beating he had gone through just to voice his CONCERN about her well-being. There was not much more he could do.

Tregarde was waiting in his office, looking as smug as ever as Scott entered the room and placed the redhead in a large, over-stuffed chair. She groaned groggily but showed no other signs of waking up at that moment. Tregarde cleared his throat as Scott continued to stand stoically near the chair and young girl.

"That will be all Masters…you may go," Tregarde stated, waving a hand idly in his general direction. The man's eyes were trained on the young unconscious redhead and Scott frowned.

"What are you going to do to her Dragon?" Scott asked curiously, folding his arms and leaning against the chair. His intent was to inform Tregarde that he was not leaving until he received some answers. Obviously his point had gotten across for Tregarde leapt out of his seat, roaring a curse at him.

"Damn you! You've grown attached to the pathetic little vessel, haven't you?!"

Scott automatically recoiled at the booming voice, almost retreating inside himself like he always did, but he held firm, for her sake. She had no one else to depend on at the moment, and it was his fault for that.

"No, I have not…" he lied placidly. Tregarde considered him with a baleful eye.

"No matter, she will die in any case. And our glorious Emperor will rise again, bringing forth his darkness."

Scott shuddered and quickly retreated out of the room. The Emperor? Did he mean Emperor Talpa? Sighing, Scott headed down to the club to drown himself in alcohol and women.

---

Karasu furrowed his eyebrows as Scott left for the club a few stories below. The foolish psivamp had not even noticed that door had not closed behind him when he took the redhead to Dragon. And Karasu had heard every word of the conversation…

Perhaps this is becoming more and more complicated than we had originally thought…perhaps Apollo was merely the decoy of the initial plan…

"Karasu!" Tregarde's voice echoed throughout the floor of the building.

Karasu swallowed his suddenly parched throat involuntarily. Had he been caught?

"Prepare the altar…we have a seed to plant…" the voice continued.

Sighing a silent breath of relief, Karasu quickly left to prepare the altar. As soon as that was done…he could alert Phoenix and Gaea. And if the atarashii Ronins came, then the original Ronins would follow. Karasu had a feeling that the girl would be pleasantly happy to see her companions after what was to come.

He honestly wished to save the girl from what physical pain and mental torture was to come…but if he were to keep up this charade and save the world, then she would have to be the sacrifice.

Mother Empress of the dark Emperor…what an unpleasant thought…forgive me child…

_

* * *

  
_

_Kogo no genjitsu_,

Mother of Darkness,

Kokoro no ai

and _junsui no_ gold.

Spring so _atarashii_ and green

_han'ei suru na kanojo ni_ eyes,

so full of _inochi_ but also _shi_.

_ketsueki soshite bara_ petals fall like _ama_

and cascade like _taki_ running _aka_.

Mother of evil,

demons rise.

_Kokoro no kin_,

_junsui_ as the sun.

Kogo no genijtsu

shroud in darkness

consumed by hate.

_Ai_ desired of family

and _tomodachi_,

with _kami no megumi no raito_.

Mother _Kogo_ of Darkness and evil,

equal in all aspects.

The _tsuriai no ai_ and hate

exist within her.

However, the darkness shies and dies within her

in the face of _ai soshite dojo_

from _samurais no raito_.

_Kanzen na chowa_ exists within her

of Darkness _soshite raito_.

For she is the Mother _Kogo_…

Mariko frowned as she stared at the poem, disheartened by not solving half of it. Placing her chin upon her hand, she drummed her fingers on the desk with frustration. She had to figure this poem out! But first she had to translate it…and her computer was doing the best it could.

"Is it done yet?" she heard Cody ask from behind her. Mariko shook her head and sighed.

"No, it can only translate so much and this one line I don't understand… Spring so atarashii and green? What does it mean by Spring so new and green? It just doesn't make sense…"

"Well, doesn't atarashii also mean fresh?" Cody asked innocently. Mariko felt her eyes widen, then narrow…

"Cody…come here and do me a favor." Cody moved over to the computer and her older twin a bit warily. "See if you know any of these words?"

Cody glanced at the computer before motioning for Mariko to give up the chair. Mariko relented and left the room, allowing her sister some peace and quiet. While her sister did not do the whole astral planes like Mariko… Mariko's agitated state would definitely bother the younger sibling.

"Maybe I can actually catch a nap or something," she muttered, realizing she had not had any sleep in the past twenty-four hours.

Just as she curled up on the couch in the apartment, something prodded at the back of her mind. Someone had lost all true hope, she realized and sighed tiredly. However, she bolted upright, nearly falling off the couch, when she realized who had lost all hope…

"In the name of Anubis…no!" she shouted, racing in to the office to inform Cody of what she had just learned.

"They've got her! That damn Dragon has her!" she screamed at her sister…her face pale. Mariko knew what they were planning to do the young redhead and it could possibly shatter the girl.


	10. Misconception of Man

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Nine: Misconception of Man

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_Frantic, faction, focus_

_The world breathes_

_And out forms this misconception we call man_

_But I don't know him_

_No, I don't know him_

_Because he lies_

**Creed, "Say I"**

* * *

Robyn stared in confusion at the unfamiliar ceiling. Where was she? Who was muttering? And God why didn't they stop? A headache was pounding at the back of her skull and she whimpered. The muttering, she realized as her hearing focused, was more like chanting, and the dark decorum did nothing to ease her anxiety of where she was. Had they finally caught her?

Allowing her eyes to wander, she spied a familiar figure and called out to him.

"Scott? What's going on?" she asked but felt her heart sink when she saw the grimace and look of guilt in his eyes. His sunglasses were off, she noted with slight surprise. Now was the first time she had ever seen him without his sunglasses on and the amount of emotion in them astounded her, enough to believe that shades were what allowed him to maintain his impassiveness.

"No…" she whispered in defeat. She went back to staring at the ceiling, having lost all hope in being rescued. She had trusted the psivamp…and this was where it had gotten her.

_Guess I didn't know him as well as I thought I did_, she thought to herself as the muttering continued. No, it was not muttering it was chanting, but why was the person chanting?

Another figure appeared in her line of vision. He was a young Chinese man in his mid-twenties with black eyes and hair as black as Ryo's, spiked up with gel. The young man whispered an apology to her and Robyn dumbly wondered why. She did not know the young man…and yet he was sorry.

"_Mother of Darkness…Mother of Evil…demons arise from the flesh of the void…death ensues upon your birth, oh great Emperor…sacrifice the flesh, bring forth terror and chaos…oh great Emperor…grow………grow………grow…………_" the chanting continued and Robyn suddenly retched as her stomach turned violently.

Attempting to roll over onto her hands and knees, Robyn felt her head go light and found herself chained to a large black marble slab. If she were not in such pain and agony she would have struggled against the bondages but her stomach felt as if it was being ripped apart. No, more like her soul…

_Demons arise from the flesh of the void_, the words filtered into her mind and a scream escaped her lips. Evil, pure evil was going to live inside of her?

"No!" she screamed, now attempting to struggle against the chains.

The chanting continued and the pain grew more intense, her soul tearing apart. Unbeknownst to her, her soul was indeed being torn apart. Battling with an unknown evil, and in doing so, her soul was in such agony that her mind was close to shattering her sanity.

_CYE!!!_

---

Cye stumbled backwards and grabbed hold of the kitchen counter with one hand while gripping his chest with the other. Something was wrong and his armor was reacting to it…but what?

_CYE!!!_

The mental scream crashed against his mind and Cye felt himself grow sick with recognition. He knew who was calling him; he'd know that voice, mental or vocal, anywhere.

"Robyn…" he whispered in a strained voice. "In the name of Anubis…"

The phone ringing shrilly in its cradle startled him and Cye hastily grabbed it.

"Hello?" he asked slowly, dreading what he knew would come.

"Hello, Mr. Mouri?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes?"

"There seems to have been an accident at the hospital and-" The man's explanation was cut off by Mariko's mental message being sent through his armor suddenly.

_Ronins…group at Toyama Hospital…Robyn's been kidnapped…_

Cye bit back a cry of frustration and abruptly said to the man that he would be at the hospital as soon as he could. Slamming the phone back into its cradle, he locked the house and donned his sub-armor, planning to travel the fastest way possible.

---

Ryo raced out of the front door, not even bothering to grab his jacket and leapt off the porch. He was halfway across the lawn when he heard his grandmother calling him. He paused and turned to see her waving his jacket at him. Groaning, he raced back up the porch and took the jacket out of his grandmother's hand. She was giving him an expectant look and Ryo sighed.

"Look, uh…I gotta go meet the guys at the hospital real quick, Grandma. I know it's late but I've just got this bad feeling," he explained hurriedly and smiled as his grandmother merely nodded.

"All right, just don't stay out too late," was all she said as she turned back inside. Ryo blinked and chuckled. Yeah, his grandma had to be the coolest.

Once again running off the porch, Ryo took off down the street and quickly changed into his sub-armor as White Blaze joined him. Worry gripped his heart as he remembered Mariko's message.

_Robyn's been kidnapped…_ Those were never comforting words. Ryo frowned, hadn't she been through enough?

---

Sage frowned as he raced across the rooftops of Toyama in the direction of the hospital. He had sensed that something had been wrong and then Robyn's mental cry had startled him…especially since it had been for Cye.

_Sage!_ her mental voice cried again now, _Ryo…Kento…Rowen! Anybody! Make it stop…make it stop…it hurts! I don't want…I don't want it! Don't……don't please………make it stop! Make it stop—_

Her cries ceased abruptly and Sage found himself traveling even faster than he had before, pushing himself as fast he dared try. She had to be all right, she just had to be! Because he wanted to apologize to her, apologize for not telling her that he would support her like the others.

The dream that had been reoccurring for the past week suddenly came to mind and Sage was filled with an unpleasant emotion that he normally refused to feel…fear.

_Robyn, hold on please,_ his mind begged, _please hold on…_

---

Kento quickly placed his armor orb in his pocket before leaving his room and walking past Chun Fa in the hall.

"Where ya goin'?" she asked, following him down the hall and watched as he pulled his jacket from the closet. He shrugged it on and headed into the kitchen, scribbling a note on a piece of paper for his parents. They were probably going to yell at him when he got home again but by then he could explain things a bit better. Robyn was in trouble and she needed his help.

Rinfi walked into the kitchen just then and frowned at his older brother, "Where are you going?"

"To the hospital. Something came up and the guys need me."

"I didn't hear the phone."

"So? Look it's urgent. Just tell mom and dad that this note is for them, 'kay?" Kento explained, heading towards the front door and ruffling Chun Fa's hair reassuringly as he passed her.

Rinfi nodded, taken aback. He could not remember a time when his older brother had looked so distraught for the life of him. How could he say no? "Uh…sure thing."

---

Rowen watched Cody try to console her pacing sister but to no avail. The older twin was too worked up to even pause her pacing and acknowledge Ryo and Mia as the two arrived. The doctors were refusing to explain anything to anyone until Cye arrived. And that was not sitting well with Mariko.

The young woman was pacing like a caged beast, cursing every now and then. For what reason she would not say, merely that the others had better arrive soon…for Robyn's sake.

Ryo looked to Rowen, expecting an answer for the bearer of Phoenix's behavior and Rowen merely shrugged his shoulders in reply. Ryo frowned at that and also watched Cody attempt to comfort her distressed sister again. There was something that the newer Ronin was not telling them and it beginning to upset the bearer of Wildfire and Strata greatly. If Robyn was in immediate danger then they should know about it.

"Hey Mariko," Ryo said after a while and the young woman glanced at him, not even bothering to pause her pacing. It reminded him of Cye when Robyn had first arrived at the hospital. Only then, Cye was not as frantic as the young woman was now.

"Yes?"

"Phoebus is a God right?" Ryo asked and Rowen gave him a confused look. What did that have to do with Robyn being kidnapped?

"Yes, it is a Roman God, the Roman God of the Sun-" Mariko halted suddenly, raising a hand to hush her sister's comment. Phoenix gave the bearer of Wildfire a long, hard glance. "What are you getting at Wildfire?"

"God of the Sun? Is it the same as this Apollo God?"

Mariko nodded, a few of her forest green bangs falling into her ice blue eyes. "Yes, the same. Why?"

"There's a kid who moved in next door to me and there's just something about him that—I don't know…but he said he had a nickname once. And it was Phoebus 'cause he's from Italy."

"Mari! He could be the bearer of Apollo!" Cody exclaimed excitedly.

Rowen found it amazing that no one was even paying attention to them, considering all the shouts and pacing and odd name-calling that was going on in their little corner of the waiting room. He heard the sliding doors open and turned to see Kento entering with Sage, both a little wind-blown too. They all had come by the quickest means possible obviously. And it seemed that Cye was the only left.

"Hey guys," Kento greeted, "Where's Matt?"

"Hunting…" Mariko said absent-mindedly, as if trying to search her memory for something.

"Hunting what? Oh yeah, never mind," Kento said, but his comment was drowned out by Cody's sudden exclamation.

"Mari! If we find this kid that Ryo is talking about and get the armor to accept him then Dragon will have no need for Robyn and let her go!" Cody reasoned with her sister. The younger twin was showing much more emotion than before and Rowen wondered what had gotten the young woman to open up so.

"Hush Cody-chan!" the older twin suddenly shouted, causing all of them to look at her startled. "We do not even know if this child is the one! Not only that but I fear that our assumptions were inaccurate and that they had wanted Robyn all along! Apollo was no doubt a distraction! Now because of me, she will die!"

Fear gripped Rowen and he was dimly aware that the sliding door had opened during Mariko's little fit. It was not until an equally upset shout countered the bearer of Phoenix's that heralded the arrival of Cye. Rowen turned to see Cye with his fists clenched at his sides, shaking with anger. The bearer of Torrent was shaking with suppressed frustration that was beginning to turn to rage.

"What do you mean die?!" Cye asked, voice quavering slightly with anger and Rowen suppressed the urge to shudder. The anger Cye was displaying was about as bad as Ryo's temper and Rowen had no desire to see either at the moment. For both made him feel uneasy and somewhat useless in consoling.

Phoenix took up her pacing once again but paused only a moment as the soul-gaki Joshua appeared from somewhere. The two seemed to have a silent conversation for a moment before the gaki nodded his head and left.

"What the bloody Hell did you mean?!" Cye shouted at Mariko once more and the latter bowed her head in shame.

"I—I—I know what they were doing to her…when she screamed for you twenty-minutes ago. I—I—I'm so sorry! If I had known I would have killed Dragon a long time ago! I would have destroyed the altar and everything else! I just didn't think anyone else could handle—could handle such—such—such evil and possibly survive…"

"What are you talking about? What evil? What did they do to Robyn?!"

"There is a legend and I have yet to decipher it all…but it is said that a great evil will rise once again from a seed planted within a void. Dragon was always impatient and had no intention of discovering the meaning of the legend. So he used me as the vessel for this seed of evil. I swear I don't think I could bear—to have my soul—the pain—I'm so sorry Cye!"

"Why would they want Robyn then?" Sage interjected immediately. Mariko seemed startled by his question as if Halo should have already known the answer.

"You mean…you five have never felt—Halo surely you have seen her aura!" At Sage's nod Mariko continued, flabbergasted at them all. "She was born with a void! There is a constant darkness inside of her! I am surprised that she was never corrupted by—my God…she's it."

"Robyn? She's what? What is she Mariko?" Ryo asked, narrowing his eyes at the young woman.

"She is the one…she has to be…she has to be the void in which the seed would be planted in. Oh, Cye! I am so sorry!"

Joshua suddenly returned with a grim expression on his face and Rowen half-noticed that Cody had come to stand next to him, hands in her jean pockets. From the half-hidden expression on her face, Rowen assumed that she felt somewhat useless in this situation and he had to agree. They all did and until they could figure out what _exactly_ was going on, there was nothing to counter-act that feeling.

"It was him all right, the bastard! He's been in league with Dragon this whole time!" the soul-gaki spat venomously. The gaki's gold eyes sparked with a suppressed hunger and Rowen shuddered involuntarily. That was definitely not a look he trusted.

"Who?" Kento questioned and Mariko's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Scott…a nurse was found outside of Robyn's room and none of the doctor's can figure out what is wrong with the woman. She's breathing normally, vital signs normal, but her mind seems to be lost. No spark of will to live exists in her now…that's Scott's doing. I hope he enjoyed that meal too, for it will be his last once I find him," Mariko explained and then heaved a tired sigh.

"Cye go take care of what ever the police are going to want and when you are done, we will _all_ go and pay Dragon a little visit."

The bearer of Torrent made as if to argue but thought better of it and did as suggested. They all saw the urgency in this matter now. They had to get Robyn out of the enemy's grasp soon.

* * *

There was something extremely soft and smooth underneath her, and was cool to the touch. Forcing the continuous throb in her head aside, Robyn cracked her eyes open slightly, cautious as to not alert her captors that she was awake. The room was dim and a dull rhythmic bass was muffled by the walls of the room as colors splashed across the walls of the muted and dim room.

"I know you're awake wench," a smooth, cultured and melodious voice resonated about the room. Robyn sat up and glared at the source of the voice, only to find the face cast into the shadows of the room and the person was sitting in an expensive-looking, high-back leather business chair. All she could make off the person were his leather-gloved hands and embroidered leather vest. The embroidery she found to be two green Chinese dragons.

"And just where do you get off calling me a wench?! Not that I'm not flattered, I always did like the European Renaissance," she quipped, raising her head in indignation. Glancing about her, she found that she was lying on a large bed covered in deep green satin sheets and fur blankets. She was no longer bound at the wrists or ankles and was free to move around; the skin around her wrists and ankles however, seemed to be nearly rubbed raw. Not only that but she had a headache the size of the U.S. to add to the package! And her stomach was hurting so badly…

The man merely chuckled at her, stood, moved into what little light there was and bowed mockingly.

Robyn's breath hitched in her throat at the sight of him. He was absolutely gorgeous! His amber-colored hair fell about his face and eyes much like Rowen's, without the long forelock, and framed a pair of intense lavender eyes. The eyes were what had her captivated for a moment for they reminded her a great deal of Sage's eyes. Intense and calculative, but only Sage's held a genuine warmth of friendship and protectiveness, whereas this stranger's held none of that warmth.

"Because _wench_…I now control your destiny and therefore I now control you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Richard Tregarde."

Robyn laughed at that, "Man, you must really be off your rocker. I don't know what makes you so sure of yourself but I can bet you that the police are already looking for me and no doubt my friends will have told them that _you_ have been after me for the past week."

It was the stranger's turn to laugh and his laugh was more like a rumble, a deep rumble across a barren land. In fact, it sounded very similar to how a dragon would laugh, if such creatures existed. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat as Robyn truly realized who and what this man was. Yes, she had assumed that this man was Dragon, the man Mariko had mentioned frequently during the past week, but she never would have guessed how true to his armor name he was.

_No wonder the armor chose him…everything we have characterized dragons as he fits perfectly,_ she thought to herself as she stood up off the satin covered bed.

"Now, since you are quite done with your pathetic little comebacks, I will begin to explain the rules you are to follow. First, you stay out of the club floors below. I do not wish to come searching for you should someone sneak you out of here. I will be most displeased should I have to do so and will immediately terminate the collaborator on site. I'm sure that you do not wish for any unnecessary deaths am I right? And most importantly wench, do not put yourself in danger. It would be most disappointing to lose a compatible vessel and it will then be even longer until our Dark Emperor can be reborn."

"Whoa! Hold it! Reborn? You mean to tell me that you put some evil bastard inside of me?!" Robyn screamed in shock, fear and anger. No wonder it had hurt so badly before, and why her stomach was still hurting now. She shuddered at the mere thought of carrying some evil spawn inside of her.

"No, not some bastard…the Dark Emperor…which would make you the Dark Mother Empress. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it pet…" Dragon purred maliciously.

Robyn felt dizzy. This was NOT happening! This could not be happening! Why was it that she could not just start over and live a calm, peaceful life with her childhood best friend and his friends? Why was she always putting her closest friends in danger? And all because of her too?! It was not _fair_!

Robyn clenched her fists and glared at Dragon. "I hope you burn in the deepest part of Hell!" she hissed at him, preparing to make a dash for the door she had spotted when she had first assessed the room a few moments earlier. It would be right behind her and there were no guards inside the room and if there were any outside, she would hopefully have the element of surprise on her side.

Turning suddenly, she raced for the door only to collide with a solid barrier. Falling backwards on her rump, Robyn looked up into the vibrant violet eyes of Scott Masters. He wore a grim expression on his face before looking past her at Dragon.

"They're coming and they know it was me. I left a calling card," Scott informed the atarashii Ronin of Dragon. "I'd also like to speak with Red for a moment, if that settles all right with you."

"Of course, how else shall I repay you for your good service?" Dragon chuckled and swiftly, but gracefully, left the room. He did not even spare a glance at her as he passed. Obviously he trusted Scott enough to not even ask what it was Scott wanted to discuss with her.

"What do you want," she asked quietly, preparing to stand up but paused to look at the silently offered hand. Looking up, she saw an infinite deal of remorse in the psi-vamp's eyes and Robyn took it without hesitation. As she stood, she noticed that she was wearing a black and gold kimono, quite a change from her jeans and short-sleeved top. However she did not feel like contemplating how she was in something different and just let the knowledge that someone had changed her sink in.

She hugged herself involuntarily and looked at Scott, watching as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black leather jacket. She could feel the regretful vibes emanating from him and sympathy seeped into Robyn's heart. He seemed so lost and confused…much like that day when he had explained a little bit about psi-vamps to her.

When she was stuck in bed and it was Scott's shift, one of Dragon's men had entered the hospital and foolishly attempted to kidnap her. Scott had been there and stopped him without moving a muscle or saying a word. The lackey had stood still for so long Robyn had grown worried and suddenly, the lackey had turned, headed out the door, down the hall and exited the hospital.

Robyn had inquired what had happened and Scott shrugged his shoulders and said that he had told the man to go home.

"But how? You didn't even say a thing!" she had stated, eyeing him incredulously.

The psi-vamp had once again shrugged, a little smirk on his face. "Didn't have to. Told him with my mind. Psi-vamps have that ability, controlling people's minds…and that's how we feed."

The smirk had died from his lips then and he had hung his head, almost afraid that he had frightened her with that truth. Robyn had only smiled and told him should not be ashamed of what he was. He was what he was and that was that.

"No use crying over spilt milk, right?" she had teased lightly and Scott had looked at her then with what she could only describe as utter relief. She had known that he had feared she would judge him without reason and so she had given him the benefit of a doubt.

"You okay Red?" Scott's voice asked quietly and Robyn snapped to attention instantly. He was looking at her with concern and Robyn swallowed her parched throat. He was trying to tell her that he was sorry, she could tell.

"I'm fine…or I will be as soon as I get out of here," she stated, smiling lightly. "Just don't try to stop me, please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it Red. If I did, you'd probably send your little Ronin posse after me, right?" he joked and Robyn smiled. It was apparent that Scott knew how fragile their trust was and Robyn dared not tell him that she had lost all trust in him. Well, not ALL trust…but it certainly was fragile.

"You've changed Scott, not that I really knew you but—I can tell some how…" she whispered sadly.

Scott frowned and poked her stomach, "That's how. I heard Tregarde saying that the two of you are now linked. Don't ask, I have no clue _what_ it means."

She nodded slowly, turning away from him. "I guess I better hurry and go, huh?"

"Yeah, you better. Tregarde will be busy with Mariko and the others. But my advice Red, don't even bother trying to find them when they're here. It'll be too easy for Tregarde to spot you."

She nodded again and looked back at him. Smiling, she gave him a brief hug and then proceeded to gather the accursed yards of fabric that was called a kimono. Scott chuckled for a moment before smiling sadly, brushing some strands of her red hair out of her face. She noted with surprise that not only was her clothing different but so was her hair. It was now pulled back in to tight sausage curls.

"Good-bye Red. This is the last time we'll ever see each other."

Robyn jerked her head in his direction, which she immediately regretted due to the headache she still had. "What—why?"

"Just is…that's the way it's gotta be. Now go!"

Robyn bit her lower lip, nodded and slipped out the door. There were no guards on the outside of the room either and that surprised her greatly. Perhaps Scott had made sure that no one would stop her at this point in the game? Or was Dragon so confident that she would not try and escape after he had laid down the rules?

_Man, this guy must really be dense…_she thought as she moved down the halls as quickly and quietly as she could.

* * *

Mariko frowned as she approached Dragon's little 25+ Club. It brought back some memories, both good and bad…some of her friends, some of Karasu, some of Cody and some of Julien. She bit her lip and turned to the others, sighing heavily as she saw the skeptical looks on their faces, at least on some of the Ronins. While compared to some, Cody was no stranger to sex and drugs but she was much more innocent than her elder sister. Josh on the other hand…

"Okay, a few rules before we go in," she began, ignoring the protests that were about to be made. "Do not accept an open drink from anyone _unless_ you see them make the drink, though I still recommend that you don't. Rule two; do not take any_thing_ from anyone. If you end up with a handful of pills, for Anubis's sake, CRUSH 'em and get rid of 'em! You'll be saving a lot of people a few more hours of life, trust me. Rule three, if anyone asks if you're 'rollin' say yes and walk away OR say no and somehow mention my name in that same sentence. They'll leave you alone if they do."

"Why would they leave us alone if we do?" Kento asked curiously.

Mariko sent the Ronin of Hardrock a lop-sided smile. "Because I have quite a reputation in there. Anyone messes with my friends or family, I'm on their ass in a moment's pass. They usually never come back if I do too."

"That's a twenty-five and over club, Phoenix," Sage stated, crossing his arms defiantly. Mariko sighed in exasperation. She should have known he was going to act like this.

"Uh, your point being Halo?" she asked him sarcastically and then shook her head. "Don't worry about getting in…I've got connections, remember?"

"All right! We're getting in to a 25+ club, Ro! This is so cool!" Kento announced excitedly, wrapping an arm around Rowen's neck. Rowen grinned in agreement.

The others still did not seem convinced but they were wasting time and the longer she stood around trying to convince them, the longer Robyn was in Dragon's clutches and Mariko knew just how sharp Dragon's talons could be.

"Just remember what I told you and stay close. He's probably expecting us, anyway."

With that she headed toward the entrance of the club and nodded at the bouncer. He nodded back and threw a friendly smile at her, allowing her and the others in. She should have remembered that Takeshi worked on this night and that he would allow her in without a second thought.

_It has been awhile, I've forgotten how much all these people meant to me…_

Once inside, Mariko turned to Cye slightly, surveying the room and noted that Josh had branched away from them. No major problem there, he could take care of himself. She strained to see the business corner but to no avail, there were too many people. As she turned to look back at Cye, she noted the puzzled yet blank look on Ryo's face. Following Wildfire's gaze, Mariko found what had caught his attention. Shaking her head, she came up next to Ryo and waved a hand in front of his face. He looked her then back at the couple of males in one of the darken alcoves, and then back at her.

"Mariko, dare I want to ask what those guys are doing?" he questioned cautiously.

Mariko truly sympathized with the bearer of Wildfire, virtuous in probably everything. "No, Ryo, you don't. Just ignore and avoid the dark corners." He gave her a questioning look and Mariko shook her head firmly. "Dark corners bad! Dark corners VERY bad! Stay away from the dark corners!"

He nodded his head slowly, still not truly comprehending why. Rowen suddenly whispered something into the bearer of Wildfire's ear. A disgusted look of realization appeared on Ryo's face and looked warily at the dark corners and alcoves while Strata proceeded to laugh at Ryo's expression. Cody immediately smacked the bearer of Strata on the arm, demanding to know what exactly he had said to Ryo.

"Only that he should know when two guys are making out," Rowen wheezed, still laughing. Mariko shook her head and patted Ryo on the shoulder comfortingly. The poor boy was having a major culture shock but there was nothing she could really do for him.

"Well, how would _you_ know Strata? Are you an expert on gay make-outs?" Cody goaded and Rowen ceased to laugh but gawked at her like she had grown a second head.

"And just what are you implying?!" he yelled.

"Oh nothing much sugar. Just that I'm surprised you would actually know, since you don't strike me as the type to hang around places like this."

"Well, neither do you! So how would _you_ know?"

"Jon," Cody said simply. Mariko had to laugh at that. Yeah, sometimes a gay guy could be the bestest friend a girl could hope for.

---

Sage surveyed the room with displeasure. The smoky haze of the room unnerved him and the strobe/multi-colored lights did not ease his discomfort either. The mass of bodies out on the dance floor were moving, he noticed with _great_ discomfort, to an erotic beat and rhythm…and knowing his luck, he'd probably be dragged into it one way or another. Curse his looks!

He turned his gaze to the bar area and tables next. Most of the women were wearing revealing clothing and some of the people were wearing _sunglasses!_ Sunglasses at night?! That sent the warning bells off in his head.

Sage grimaced as a stoned looking young woman passed by him, giving him an approving look. She winked as she walked by, arm draped around another girl who looked just about as equally stoned.

He quickly avoided their gazes by looking at the other Ronins to find Ryo still harboring that disgusted look, Kento just have the greatest time he could have hoped to have, Cody and Rowen still arguing over the comment the latter had made to Ryo, Cye looking as uncomfortable as he and Mariko…she was looking at him with her head cocked to the side, a lop-sided grin on her face.

He glared at her, "What?"

"Geez Casanova, I would have thought you'd be enjoying this," she teased. He glowered at her and crossed his arms. Oh, she knew how to push the right buttons, just like Robyn. The thought made him tune out the rest of the club and focus on the redhead for a moment. He looked back up at Mariko, his eyes almost begging her to get on with the search. Mariko seemed to read his message loud and clear, nodding as she turned to the others.

---

Mariko cleared her throat and clapped her hands a few times to gain everyone's attention, snapping her fingers in front of Kento's face however. He blinked and looked at her questioningly.

"You can ogle at the girls later Kento. We have a mission to accomplish, remember?" she announced. She noticed that everyone seemed to sober at that comment.

She was surprised, however, to feel a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders enticingly. She stiffened and turned her head in the direction of the weight on her shoulder. Selena waggled her eyebrows at her and Mariko groaned. Why now?

Ignoring the female, Mariko turned back to the others, shrugging at the looks they were throwing in her direction. "Okay, here's the jest. What we're going to do is find Dragon and extract some information from him, then find Robyn and get out of here. That is after I get the lesbian off me," she growled at Selena.

Selena huffed diffidently and removed her arms, "Mari-chan, I'm insulted! You know I'm bi!"

Mariko chuckled as Cody shook her head and Rowen cleared his throat. "Hai, I know that, and you know that I'm straight…so get over it."

Selena shrugged her shoulders, "No biggie, there are others who would be more than happy to oblige me." Mariko watched as Selena's gaze shifted towards the Ronins and Cody. Rowen was looking at the newcomer strangely, not sure whether to be amused, cautious or indifferent; the expression was quite funny actually, for Cody was smothering her laughter rather poorly.

"Oi, the guys are off limits Selen' so don't even try. Oh and if you see Jon, tell him that too," Mariko announced, snapping at the young woman with two-toned hair.

"Okay, if I see him…and what about her…she straight?" Selena smiled lazily, looking at Cody.

"She's off limits!" Mariko hissed at her friend and ex-co-worker. The young woman seemed taken aback, flipping some of her black and orange hair over her bare shoulder.

"Oh, so you _did_ turn bi! I'm so proud!" chided Selena.

"She's my sister…" Mariko warned.

"Oh…_oh!_ Yikes, sorry 'bout that! It's too dark to see the resemblance and Cody, girl! You look different! Nice different too."

Mariko shook her head, why this? Why now? _God, this is one thing I would not have wished the Ronins to witness…_ "Selena," she said, gaining the attention of the other young woman. "Where's Tregarde?"

The young woman shrugged, "Probably busy with his new _toy_, though I don't know where he picked her up."

"_Robyn?_" Cye inquired and Mariko saw the look of horror in the bearer of Torrent's eyes.

"Oh, so that's Red's name…hmm, American name but looks Irish, ah well. Yeah, he's probably in his office with her," Selena rambled carelessly. "Nothin' new…whoa! You—Scott told me—whoa, uh yeah…never mind. Tregarde is definitely NOT in office then!"

"Where is Tregarde, Selena?" Mariko growled, narrowing her eyes and reaching slowly for a dagger she had hid in the folds of her cloak. She and Cody always wore their cloaks in this place for it made it difficult for drug dealers to slip them something with all those yards of cloth surrounding them.

"Uh—I don't know! How am I supposed to know where the bastard is?" Selena stuttered, backing away slightly as if she had been caught with her hand caught in the figurative cookie jar.

As quickly as Cody could warn the young woman, Mariko had grabbed her by her shoulders, pulled the girl to her and placed the dagger against the small of her back. She heard Selena's gasp of surprise and the young woman's voice quivered with fear, when Selena whispered why. Yes, Mariko understood why Selena questioned her, for in the past she would never have done this to her. Never, but that was the past and more was at stake than just their friendship.

"Now, I will ask one more time Selena, _dear_. Where is Tregarde?" Mariko hissed in the young woman's ear.

"He—he's at his table…waiting for you…I guess…" Selena's voice squeaked. Mariko growled as she pushed Selena away and quickly hid her dagger once more.

Mariko turned to Cye and gave him a pleading gaze when he frowned disapprovingly at her. He sighed and nodded his head at her unspoken question. He knew that they had wasted enough time.

"Why Mariko? You broke your pact with us, you know that right! No harm comes to our own family!" Selena cried out angrily.

"I know," Mariko said as she urged Cye and the others towards the business corner of the club. "But I felt it was necessary, since I'm trying to save your life."

With that, she turned away from Selena and walked past Cody, who seemed highly agitated. She was yanking on Rowen's arm muttering something about "come on Strata, we're leaving the nice lady now."

"I can take care of myself, sister," the younger twin stated testily, shoving Rowen in front of her and towards the others.

"I know, but you're my baby sister. I get to protect you every once in a while, and in here, imotou…you are _quite_ innocent and naïve." Mariko ruffled her younger sister's hair and Cody growled annoyingly at the gesture.

---

He was assessing her, by the way she walked, spoke, and gestured. He was trying to figure out if there were any new skills she possessed. And his mere presence unnerved her.

"Tregarde," Mariko said calmly and politely.

"Ah, Phoenix…" Tregarde responded in kind. "It's a pleasure to see you again, pet."

"I'm sure it is you bastard," Cody spat at the man sitting with his hands steepled on the table. He calmly looked in the younger twin's direction and smiled rather seductively at the bearer of Gaea.

"Ah, I see you've brought those pathetic orijinarus with you Phoenix, as well as your sister. Who has changed quite enticingly might I add," Tregarde purred, eyeing Cody.

Cody growled in response, "I'll slit your throat before you even get a chance Dragon. Besides, we have business to discuss."

"Business? How so?"

"Robyn! Where is she?" Cye interjected before Mariko could even breathe a word. Torrent's voice was laced with anger and worry and Mariko put a hand on his shoulder as he began to move past her. He glanced at her and she pleaded with him silently to let her handle the situation.

_I know him better than you Cye…please, let me do this…_ she sent to him directly through the armor souls. He seemed only a bit angry at her but more towards Dragon and rightfully so. He nodded after a moment but did not move from where he now stood next to her.

"Who?" Tregarde questioned, raising an amber eyebrow at the young man.

"The redhead you kidnapped, idiot," Cody hissed. Mariko groaned in dismay…this was not at all how she had planned for this meeting to be!

"Watch your tongue wench! You are on my property, my turf, and my rules! Do take time to remember that, pet."

"Yeah, well you obviously don't know _us_ very well. You have Robyn and we want her back. Simple as that. Where is she?" Ryo growled, slamming his fists on the table. Mariko watched as he ignored Tregarde's bodyguards moving towards the inside of their coats. Not only that but Wildfire also seemed to ignore Dragon waving his hand in dismissal to his bodyguards; his eyes were locked with Dragon's lavender ones.

Mariko pulled Ryo away from the table, gently urging him to listen to reason. She flinched when he turned his glare on her and realized how thin the ice had suddenly become. She did not know much about Wildfire but from what Robyn had informed her, his temper was almost impossible to subdue.

"Ryo, please…I know you are probably going to disagree with me here but, I _know him_. I know how he works and I know how he thinks. Please, let me handle this," she begged him silently.

"Ryo, she's right. We have no idea how this guy works," Sage agreed.

"We didn't know Talpa and we beat him," Ryo argued.

"Yeah but Ryo, this is way out of our league here. Talpa wouldn't even negotiate. This guy might," Rowen interjected.

"Please Ryo. This may be Robyn's only chance," Cye added.

Mariko watched as Wildfire looked to the bearer of Hardrock and Gaea for support but found none. He slowly relented, continuing to glare at Dragon. Mariko breathed a silent sigh of relief and turned back to Dragon, smiling apologetically.

"Yes, it is the redhead we seek, Tregarde. Now, please, where is she?" Mariko inquired calmly.

"She is in my keeping and will stay in my keeping, Phoenix."

Mariko frowned and glared at the atarashii ronin across from her. Oh, he was a cunning one…that he was. "Yes, she will stay in your keeping Dragon, but that is until we take her from you."

Tregarde chuckled, "Very unlikely, for you see Mariko…you are too late. The seed has already been sown. And I will be taking her to the Nether Realm very shortly. The Emperor will be safer there, than here in the Mortal Realm."

"Over my dead body," Cye grounded out from next to Mariko and she once again placed a hand on his shoulder to warn him. She spared a glance at Wildfire and saw his fists clenched tightly at his sided.

"Fine then. We will see you in the Nether Realm, Tregarde. Until then, sayonara." Mariko turned and motioned for the others to follow but Cye and the others did not comply immediately.

"What the bloody Hell do you mean?!" Cye shouted at her, catching up with her and Mariko winced at the tone, pausing with only having moved a few paces from the table. He was nearing the breaking point and if she did not explain the reasoning soon he would snap as well as Ryo…and it would most likely be her neck they would both try to snap in the process too.

"They will not harm her in any way, Torrent. Please, it is for the best right now," she said aloud, then whispered to him, "We are out-numbered, have the disadvantage and we know have new information to take into account. It will do Robyn no good if you are dead!"

He nodded at the last part, "You're right, it won't do her any good if we're dead."

"Good, then let us leave and—"

A distant rumble fell upon their ears and grew in volume, quickly accompanied by the floor shaking and the rafters and beams rattling. The clubbers immediately began screaming as pieces of concrete and sheetrock fell from above, crumbling and breaking as it hit the concrete floor.

Mariko watched as one of Tregarde's lackeys came running up to him, panting and with a fearful look in his eyes. "Sir! She—she—she's out! She's out and—and we can't stop her! She's blasting us with—with some kind of—energy or something!" the lackey yelled over the screaming chaos.

"What?!" Tregarde roared.

"She's free and she's on the roof sir!"

Mariko quickly shoved the Ronins outside, "she's on the roof and I have a feeling she's not going to be the Robyn you know."

"What do you mean by that?" Sage asked as they passed through doors with the rest of the clubbers.

"She's causing all of this chaos, Halo!"


	11. Tipping the Scales

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Ten: Tipping of the Scales

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_At times life is wicked and I just can't see the light_

_A silver lining sometimes isn't enough_

_To make some wrongs seem right_

_Whatever life brings_

_I've been through everything_

_And know I'm on my knees again_

_But I know I must go on_

_Although I hurt I must be strong_

_Because inside I know that many feel this way_

**Creed, "Don't Stop Dancing"**

* * *

Robyn ignored the pain in her shoulder as she continued running down the various hallways of the twenty-five and over club. It had only been about ten minutes since she had left Scott's company to escape this place and already she had encountered about four men. All had attempted to capture her but luck was on her side for they all had failed.

The first had tried to stop her by grabbing her arm but she had yanked it free and quickly rendered him unconscious by ducking and allowing him to knock his own head on the wall in the process. The second she had downed in a similar fashion, only kicking him very hard in the shin after she had ducked and scurried out of the way. Third man to have attempted in capturing her, found himself locked into a room, her having placed a chair under the knob. It working was what had surprised her the most.

The fourth man was the reason her shoulder was throbbing for he had yanked on her arm so badly that it felt like he had pulled it out of its socket. And when she had tried to punch him, it merely grazed his cheek, leaving him quite irritated at her. If Scott had not miraculously shown up and grabbed the man, she most likely would be back in Dragon's office.

Turning the corner, she cursed spotting another two men, jogging down the hall in her direction. She quickly moved out of sight.

"Damn, damn, damn," she muttered, pressing herself back against the wall. Sighing and grabbing the folds of her kimono, she turned the corner and ran full speed at one of the men. She knocked him down, quickly threw a punch at the other man and took off down the hallway while the two men were still recovering.

A gunshot rang throughout the hallway and a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling in front of her. She screamed, dodging the sheetrock and accidentally tripping on the kimono in the process. Another gunshot echoed through the hall and Robyn felt the bullet pass straight on through her arm. She screamed again, clutching her wounded arm as the two men advanced on her.

"The boss isn't goin' to be happy with ya shootin' at 'er," the unarmed man stated to his co-worker.

The other shrugged nonchalantly, "Who cares, as long as she's still in our keep."

Tears streamed down Robyn's face as her arm throbbed in rhythm with her shoulder. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Why couldn't she just lead a normal life?! Why?!

"Why?!" she screamed at the men in rage, "Why can't you all just leave me alone?!"

The armed man laughed at her, cocking the gun as he approached her. She glared at him, anger and hatred beginning to override all senses. Why? That was the one question running through her head…why?

"Go away!" she screamed at them, no longer fighting whatever she had held confined in the recesses of her mind upon waking up in Tregarde's office. She knew that whatever it was, it was evil but she didn't care at this point. She didn't care at all. She'd almost be happier dead if it meant that she could leave this nightmare that was her life and that the guys would not be involved in any of this anymore because of her.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed at the men, feeling a sudden wave of that dark energy wash over her and cloud her sense of reasoning. She watched as the two men flew backwards as if hit by some unseen force that was ten-times stronger than any man. They crashed against the far end of the hallway with a loud resounding thud and lay unmoving. She swallowed as her mouth became dry with realization. She had killed them.

She stared at their motionless bodies, struggling in a bottomless abyss, fighting those evil dark thoughts, negative energy and hatred. She was losing the battle though; it was too much for her to fight against now. She had not known that those waves of dark energy would be _so_ powerful; if she had, she would not have released them from the area she had banned them to. Now, she struggled to shove them back to that corner and lock them away, but she failing and failing terribly.

She clutched her head as pain ripped through her mind. Why should she stop this energy? She could put an end to all of this crap that was going on and go about her life again. Why was she denying all this glorious power?

_Because it's evil! Nothing good ever comes from evil!_ her heart screamed at her mind. Pain ripped through her body as the struggle continued. What was happening to her?

But she wanted to save the guys…was that wrong? She wanted to make sure they never had to fight again…was that wrong too? She wanted to protect those angels just like they had protected her…how could that be wrong?

She screamed out as those dark waves of negative energy crashed around her and dragged her down into that endless abyss of darkness. She was drowning and no matter how hard she tried, she could not free herself from the grip that evil force had on her.

Looking at the two motionless bodies down the hallway, something snapped and Robyn smiled cruelly at them. The waves of darkness continued to crash around her mind, a twisting, churning, and raging blackness. The last thought of purity she held before the dark waves completely surrounded her was that she had drowned. She had drowned in that black abyss of evil and negativity.

_"Well, I did warn you,"_ she whispered maliciously at the dead bodies before standing up. As she stood, another handful of guards turned the corner and stared at the bodies before turning their gazes toward her. She raised her arm and flicked her wrist nonchalantly, watching with delight as they were thrown against the wall. A deafening collection of thuds and cracks echoed into her ears, the same as the first two. They all laid motionless along side their comrades.

She turned and levitated herself off down the hallway without giving them a second thought. She wanted out of this prison and to find the son of a bitch who had placed her in it. And when she did find him…he would pay dearly!

---

Karasu ran down the hallway as fast as he could and turned the corner only to halt in his tracks. He came face to face with the psi-vamp Scott Masters. He narrowed his black eyes at him, frowning as Scott did the same.

"What do you want traitor?" Karasu growled at the chestnut haired young man.

"I'm not letting you take her back," was the reply.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not letting you take her back to Tregarde."

"The Hell with Tregarde! Phoenix will kill me if she knows I let her out of my sight!"

Scott seemed startled at Karasu's comment, taking a step backwards. The psi-vamp eyed him cautiously before asking somewhat hesitantly, "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

Karasu glared at him, "I could ask you the same question. Why'd you do it?"

"Tregarde…he…he said that Cody had died because of that stupid armor and…that the only way to avenge her would be to bring him the girl and the armor—"

"But Cody is alive!"

"I know that now! By the time I found out…it was too late…I couldn't back out…"

"You sold yourself to him, didn't you?! You actually sold your life to him?! Even I didn't do that!" Karasu shouted at the young psi-vamp. Scott winced at the tone, sincere regret reflecting in his violet eyes.

"I—I—I didn't know what to do! I just thought—"

"Well you thought wrong pal! You destroyed her! Robyn—she trusted you and you betrayed her! Do have any idea how she felt?!" Karasu shouted at Scott, remembering the pained look in her eyes. She had looked so lost and scared, betrayed and frightened. Karasu's heart clenched in sympathy just at the memory of Robyn's vivid green eyes looking at him with curiosity when he'd apologized to her.

"How would you know?!" Scott shouted back venomously.

"I _looked_ at her traitor! You wouldn't even watch what happened to her thanks to your handy-work!"

"Like you have room to speak Flesh-Gaki!"

"At least I know what fully happened to her so I can understand where my guilt comes from Psi-Vamp!"

Any retort Scott had prepared for him was cut off by the building quaking violently without warning. Karasu took one look at Scott's expression and knew that what ever had caused the building to shake could NOT be a good thing. Then Karasu remembered what Tregarde had told him. Robyn and Tregarde's Dark Emperor were linked now, whatever evil the Emperor possessed would threaten to take over Robyn's entire existence. The only way to prevent it would be if she recognized a constant in her life. But how was she to do that if she was out of her right state of mind?

"Come on, we've got to find her before she gets hurt," Scott said, darting pass the Karasu.

"You mean before _she_ hurts anyone," Karasu muttered, following the pony-tailed psi-vamp.

* * *

Cye watched as the atarashii twins rebounded off the sides of the buildings, sub-armor already on and their cloaks billowing eerily around them. He quickly followed, donning his sub-armor and rebounding off the buildings to the roof of the 25+ Club. Upon reaching the top, Cye watched as Mariko surveyed the area cautiously. He heard the others land behind him as he went and stood next to Cody, waiting for the bearer of Phoenix to finish.

"You said Robyn was causing all of this, how?" Ryo questioned the other Ronin of Fire. Mariko frowned as she stood and crossed her arms, in front of them, cloak shrouding her from the light of the city.

"Don't know. I just overheard one Tregarde's lackeys tell him so."

Cye growled in frustration and turned to go back into the club and search for his redhead companion himself. He paused however, as a loud crash sounded from the loft and a young Chinese man was thrown several yards across the expansive roof. Scott somersaulted out of the loft and landed on his feet, taking a fighting stance.

"Shit! When'd she get all that strength?" the Chinese man cursed, standing slowly. The two did not even seem to notice them as they obviously waited for something or someone to follow them.

"YOU!" Cody screamed suddenly, glaring at the Chinese man.

"Aw damn it! Cye grab her!" Mariko yelled at him just as Cody raced towards the Chinese man. Cye grabbed her left arm and struggled to grab her other arm until Rowen grabbed it and the two of them held her back. She continued to struggle against them and Cye was surprised to find her strength a match for the two of them.

"_YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'M GONNA KILL YOU THE SAME WAY YOU DID MY PARENTS YOU, BASTARD!"_ Cody screamed over and over again in a blind rage, until Mariko came and backhanded her sister across the face.

"SHUT UP GAEA!" Mariko shouted just as loud as her twin. Cye winced at the volume the two were using; who knew they could be so loud too? His ears felt like they were about to burst! Seeing Rowen wince in a similar fashion, Cye knew that the bearer of Strata agreed with him. Not only were the two strong but loud as well.

"He killed our parents, Mariko!" Cody cried out at her elder sister.

"And he must live with that knowledge for the rest of his life."

"But…they'd still be alive! Please let me avenge them!"

Mariko shook her head, frowning in disbelief at her younger sister's plea. "They'd be ashamed of you if you did and you know it, Gaea."

Cody suddenly went limp in their arms as she crumbled to the ground in defeat. Obviously Mariko knew how to land a blow to her sister hard enough and in just the right spot. The younger twin sobbed violently in anger, confusion and defeat while the elder one merely looked on placidly.

"Don't you think you could have been a bit more compassionate?" Rowen asked, frowning as Mariko regarded him emotionlessly. Cye watched as the bearer of Phoenix bent down, gathered her sister to where she could stand and turned back to Rowen. She raised an eyebrow at Strata as he narrowed his eyes and took Cody away from her.

"I have practically no recollection of them and right now there are more important matters," was all Mariko could say before the roof shook and a hole appeared in the cement; the cement was thrown into the air and crashed, shattering and crumbling, against the roof.

Light illuminated the hole before a dark shadow obscured it. All Cye could see of the shadow was a flowing black and gold kimono and red curls; the face was still cast in the shadows but a sickening feeling rushed over him as his armor's soul shifted in anxiety and recognition. Some how, he knew that was Robyn.

The shadow floated a few feet in the air, bent as if preparing to charge at the two young men in front of it. It paused to stretch lazily, taking a deep breath of the cool night air and laughed wickedly.

"_Finally! I'm free of that infernal building! I thought I was going to be stuck in there forever! Mm, freedom never felt so GOOD!"_ the shadow exclaimed in an ethereal voice, which sounded much like Robyn's, and turned to look around it, it's eyes resting on them.

Cody had ceased her sobbing to stare at the newest threat through tear-blurred eyes. Rowen moved so that he blocked the shadow's path to Cody, should it attempt anything.

The shadow laughed suddenly and it's laughter sent a chill up Cye's spine. "_More toys to play with. Dragon is too kind."_

"Robyn, is that really you?" Cye called out to the shadow and the shadow seemed slightly taken aback. It floated out of the light and shadow towards them, pausing a few yards away. The city lights now illuminated the shadow and Cye could see that it was indeed she. Her red hair had been pulled back and done into tight sausage curls; her green eyes were now many shades lighter and held an icy tone to them, while her skin seemed much paler than normal. Cye shuddered.

_"Cye…"_ she whispered in confusion, _"what—what are you all doing __**here**__?"_ She floated a few more feet closer and stopped, almost unsure if she should really come any closer to them. Her posture betrayed her strict, uncaring face; it seemed to say that she was afraid of them and afraid of what they would do to her. Cye frowned at that and watched as she again hesitantly floated forward and stop. Why was she afraid of them? What had they done to her to make her afraid of _them,_ her _friends_?!

Cye stared at her, guilt swelling in him as he saw how different she was. She no longer seemed like the carefree, innocent, childish Robyn he had grown to care for. Now she held an animalistic air, radiating such dark, negative energy that he stepped backwards involuntarily. He automatically prepared to defend himself, all the while telling himself how ridiculous he was being. After all this was Robyn…but then again, Robyn was definitely not her self at the moment either.

Robyn allowed her indifferent demeanor to fall and the hurt she felt at his action show. She instinctively wrapped her arms around her torso, hugging herself as if Cye had landed a physical blow to her. She glared at him, tears forming in her eyes and lip trembling slightly. She shook her head as if in denial of something and Cye felt absolutely terrible.

_"All I wanted to do was help…"_ she whispered to them, _"I just wanted to help you all."_

"Help us how?" Kento asked her and Cye watched as she snapped her head in his direction, rage sweeping through her now ice green eyes. She seemed prepared to snap at him for such a question, not really comprehending the meaning behind it.

_Tread carefully Ronins…she is near the breaking point…be wary of what you say… _Mariko sent through their armors, not willing to risk angering Robyn even more by speaking.

_"How? I was going to get rid of Dragon! That's how I was going to help! Do you think me __**that**__ incapable?!"_

"You didn't need to worry about that Robyn," Ryo said gently, light humor lacing his sentences, "We could have taken care of him in no time. Nothing can stand against us, remember?"

_"Perhaps…but not against,"_ she pressed a hand to her abdomen, _"this…no not this…this is too powerful for you all…"_

"What are you saying Robyn?"

_"You can't win Wildfire…it's impossible. The world is doomed."_

"Even you can't believe that Robyn," Sage interjected, crossing his arms.

_"And why not Halo?! Who said I could not believe such things?!"_

_Halo! Tread carefully! Do not cause her to break!_ Mariko hissed through the armor souls.

"Because it's not like you Robyn," Sage responded calmly.

"Yeah, what happened to the Robyn who once told me the only way to live a good life was to dance like no one was watching?" Rowen chimed in, cradling Cody's slightly limp body.

Robyn paused and studied Rowen for a moment before looking at all of them in turn. _"I just wanted to help,"_ she whimpered. _"I wanted to keep you all safe…"_

"Hey, you still can! Just forget about Dragon and we'll all go home," Kento said encouragingly. "Besides, Channy really wants to see you again."

Robyn smiled at that, _"Really? I can just forget about all this and go home?"_

"Of course! Did you think we'd leave you here?" Cye asked her, watching as she slowly considered her answer to his question.

She shrank back slightly, ashamed, _"I thought that…I was afraid you'd all…hate me…now that…"_

"We could never hate you Robyn!"

_"But I've—I've—I killed people! Just now!"_

Cye bit back a cry of frustration as he saw the look in her eyes. She honestly thought that they would hate her for killing some people? Yes, it was definitely not the kind of thing the Robyn he knew would do but she was so confused at this point. She seemed so lost and unsure that he was willing to put that aside. It wasn't her fault, he told himself.

"You're right wench, how could they _not_ hate you?" a male voice rumbled. Cye frowned, where had he heard that voice before? It was just recently but he could not think of whom.

_"__**Stay away from me!**__"_ Robyn suddenly screamed, whirling around to face the newcomer. Cye watched as Dragon laughed, leaning against the side of the loft. He was in black and hunter green sub-armor, while electricity danced around him wildly and dangerously.

"Now pet…I told you the rules and I fear that I must do justice to my threat," he said steely, pushing himself off of the loft. Cye watched as he moved forward with an animal-like grace, like a predator, and stop as if preparing to attack.

_"What do you mean?"_ she asked him quietly.

Throwing his arm out in Scott's direction, Cye watched as electricity laced around his arm and shot towards the psi-vamp. The psi-vamp began to convulse and scream out in pain as Dragon continued, before finally dropping to his knees slowly, and then fall unmoving.

_"__**Stop! Stop it! STOP IT!**__"_ she screamed, flicking her arm in his direction. Dragon was immediately thrown back a couple of yards. She floated over to Scott quickly, turning her back to Dragon.

Dragon struggled to stand while Robyn cried out in rage. _"__**You killed him!**__"_

"That was the whole point wench," Dragon said maliciously, spitting some blood out of his mouth. "I said I would dispose of the collaborator."

_"__**You bastard!**__"_ she screamed, throwing her arm as if to punch him from a distance. The unseen force plowed into Dragon with such immense force that it sent him flying off the roof of the club and a couple of blocks away.

Cye watched in shock as Dragon disappeared out of sight before looking at Robyn. She was breathing harshly and her body was shaking with what he guessed was exhaustion. Cye quickly ran to her and caught her as she fell suddenly.

_"So tired…"_ she whispered.

"It's all right Robyn," he assured her. "You'll be fine when you wake up. We'll be here for you."

_"Promise?"_

"I promise."

_"Okay,"_ she whispered before promptly passing out. Cye turned, holding Robyn, and looked at Mariko.

"Now what?" he asked her. She had been silent the whole time and Cye wondered if she even knew what she was doing. She had been wrong about the armor, what else could she be wrong about?

"Give me a sec," she said and moved to converse with the Chinese man before returning to them. "Karasu is still going to play spy so go ahead and take her to Miss Koji's."

"What about the hospital?" Sage inquired, frowning.

"Not the best place for her. She won't be safe."

"So, to Mia's it is huh?" Cye asked again. Mariko nodded and he sighed, jumping off the roof to the next in the direction of Mia's.

* * *

Arain sighed, kicking a pebble in front of him as strolled down the sidewalk of Toyama. It was well past his curfew but he could have cared less at the moment. He had felt a sudden need to get away from the house, ever since he had met his neighbor Ryo if the truth were to be known. There was a nagging in the back of his mind and it was causing Arain to become restless.

He paused in his steps as he came across a New Age store; the statue of Juno in the window caught his eye and his interest sparked at seeing the familiar figure. Upon seeing the store still open, Arain entered and was instantly assaulted with the smell of spiced apples. Incense was burning here and there and pleasant music was playing in the background.

There was some shuffling behind a deep blue velvet curtain placed behind a counter and Arain watched as a beautiful young blonde woman with red eyes appeared from behind it. She smiled at him kindly and Arain thought she was the Goddess Venus for a moment, so kind and innocent, she certainly fit the Goddess category at least.

He smiled but stumbled backwards when she gasped and pointed at him, crying "You—you—you—you're the one! You're the one its been looking for!"

"Excuse me?" he asked cautiously, backing away towards the door. Only now did Arain notice that no one else was in the store at this hour. He was about to turn and race out the door when she flicked her wrist and the doors slammed shut, the sign that said open now saying closed. He heard the locks turn and Arain cried out in fear. What was going on?

"What do you want?" he asked her, staring at her red eyes in fear.

"Why only you dear boy. I've been searching for you for quite some time," she replied gently, kindly to him as if to assure him of something.

"W—w—why?" he stuttered.

She again smiled gently at him. "It's all right Arain, I have no intention of hurting you," she whispered kindly, coming out from behind the counter.

"How—how—how do you know my name?"

"I know much more than that. You see your Gods did exist once, all mythical creatures existed at some point in time. In Japan, many still do such as gakis and golems…and armors."

"What—"

"I have a story to tell you," she whispered and the lights in the store dimmed until only the soft glow of candlelight filled it. The incense smoke began to curl into a huge cloud in between he and the woman, staying put instead of floating upward.

"What kind of story?" he asked, concluding that this woman was some type of witch. "And what are gakis? I know what golems are and what is this about armors? What are you?"

"Let me begin the story—actually it's a legend. A long time ago, there was a demonic being that was held in another world called the Nether Realm. He was known as Emperor Talpa…"

* * *

Mariko drew in a startled breath as Robyn spontaneously thrashed about in Cye's arms, catching the latter off guard. Cye quickly grabbed her again before she could land on her rear end and again was startled when she ceased abruptly, lying dormant in his arms. Seeing no immediate threat, they continued having only a few more miles to go before reaching Mia's place. A few moments later, however, Mariko could see Robyn's head begin to thrash about as if in the throngs of a terrible nightmare.

That was not a good sign; she came in line to next to Cye, watching as the redhead continued whip from side to side and her face portrayed a slightly terrified look. Wanting to double check the symptoms before alerting the others, she stretched her senses outward toward the young redhead, descending past the astral plane to another which she was sure even Halo could not reach; there it was pitch black as she scanned the sea of darkness which was Robyn's astral plane, the place where her own soul rested and ran free. The pitch-blackness startled Mariko as she had assumed it would be at the worst somewhat gray. White and gold lightening streaked across the plane as the thunder of a normal storm was replaced with Robyn's own screams.

_Robyn? What happened? _she called out.

_Where to go……what to choose………what now? Who……where………make it stop………what to choose…………_ Robyn's voice whispered across the astral plane.

_Oh no…no, don't worry! Don't choose yet!_ she screamed at the voice. With frightening speed, Mariko threw herself back to regular plane only to find herself standing still and the others looking at her curiously.

"Mariko, what just happened? Your eyes—" Kento began but she cut him off moving towards Robyn's thrashing head. She cursed when she could not hold Robyn's head still.

"Damn it, Cody hold her head!" she hissed at her younger sister. Her sister quickly complied and Mariko peeled back the redhead's eyelids only to find the pupils greatly dilated.

"What's going on?" Ryo asked, looking at Robyn's dilated pupils with concern.

"She can't choose and is rejecting both—can't decide and can't balance both the dark and little light left. We have to hurry!" Mariko hurriedly explained, racing the last mile to Mia's.

Not even bothering to knock, Mariko jiggled the knob hard enough to break the lock and rushed into the house screaming at the top of her lungs for Mia to grab all the pillows and blankets she could. She motioned for Cye to lay Robyn on the couch and turned to find Mia staring at them all, startled.

"What's going on?" she questioned but Mariko ignored it and again asked for the blankets and pillows. Mia nodded and quickly left to retrieve them, Ryo following to help.

Taking a deep breath, Mariko calmed herself before turning to look at Halo. The hardest part would be to convince him to be the redhead's anchor at this time. But as she looked at him, she began to doubt.

"Sage, I'm going to need your help on this. IF it were any other case I'd ask Cye since Robyn seems to be closer to him than the rest of you but under the circumstances you're it," she stated, moving to take the blankets from Ryo as he and Mia returned. She spread a few out on top of each other, forming two pads next to the couch Robyn was in.

Taking the pillows she continued, "I did not know that she was drowning but with the void I should have known better but we certainly could not have done anything out in the open on the roof either. She needs an anchor and with the darkness raging around her, you're the best chance she's got since you counteract that darkness. So my question is, will you travel to her own astral plane and convince her to come back with you? I will have to guide you and be your own anchor 'cause I sure as Hell ain't letting you in there without one."

She watched as Sage slowly nodded, "What do I need to do?"

She sighed and motioned to one of the two paddings and he raised an eyebrow at her as he moved to the farthest one from the couch. Mariko looked to Cody to find her all ready banishing her sub-armor and fishing through a leather pouch that dangled from one of her jean belt loops.

---

Cody found the powder she was looking for and handed it to her eldest sister, watching as she told Sage to relax his mind and sprinkled the powder on his forehead. A grin appeared on the younger twin's face as Sage was almost instantly out like a light. Mariko then laid down on the other padding and dropped the remaining powder on herself, quickly following Sage into a dream-like state.

"So now what?" Rowen asked, crossing his arms just having banished his own sub-armor and watched the three forms expectantly. Robyn continued to thrash about occasionally and Cody moved to place hand on her forehead. She was burning up with a fever!

"Miss Koji, please get me a cold cloth. She's got a fever and I dare not give her anything while they search for her soul," she politely asked the brunette. Mia nodded, smiling weakly at her as she left for the kitchen.

"Searching for her soul? What are you guys doing to Robyn anyway?" Kento asked, frowning as Robyn cried out softly in pain.

"Like my sister said, Robyn can't decide on the dark or the light, which is making her sick. She needs to balance both to survive, that's the way she was created, pure of heart but with a dark void. Now that this evil seed is in her it's throwing her whole light and dark balance off completely."

"But why does she need Sage's help?" Ryo questioned, also watching the distressed redhead.

"Since she now has more dark than light thanks to that seed of evil, Sage's soul and the Halo armor will provide her with enough light to counteract and balance the contrast…for a time at least."

"So Sage is the only one who can save her at this point?"

"Only if she accepts him…and that is where our prayers lay. If she rejects him and the light he offers, she'll break completely. She will be mentally unbalanced when she wakes up, should she reject the light."

"Mentally unbalanced…as in insane?" Kento probed. Cody nodded and thanked Mia as the brunette handed her the cold cloth.

"Now all we can do is wait for the decision," she whispered, dabbing the young girl's forehead. Robyn's face was drawn tight with pain and Cody felt her armor's soul stir slightly, realizing that even through the darkness, Robyn's determination was as strong as ever. The redhead was struggling relentlessly for an answer or solution and Cody prayed that she didn't break from the strain.

Cye shifting anxiously caught her attention and she sighed, allowing her maroon eyes to meet his worried green ones. Biting her lower lip, she placed the cloth on Robyn's forehead, dug through her leather pouch and pulled out a plastic bag of tealeaves, cloves, eucalyptus, peppermint and chamomile. She tossed the plastic bag at him, smiling gently when he caught it and gave her a questioning look.

"Make some tea…it'll calm all our nerves so that our own auras don't conflict with them," she explained. She quickly turned her attention back to Robyn as she let out another painful cry.

"Just out of curiosity…but if Sage is supposed to be Robyn's anchor and Mariko is Sage's…whose is Mariko's?" Rowen questioned, eyeing the older twin skeptically. "She's not doing this with no anchor herself is she?"

Cody chuckled weakly, "No, no, of course not! She's no fool with an over-sized ego. She knows her limits…though she does push them at times. No, I'm her anchor. Since we are twins, naturally blood-related and both possess armors, she is still able to understand me when I speak to her but anyone else and it's like talking to a rock. So, while she is surveying the astral plane and guiding Halo, I observe the norm and then tell her what is happening.

"I just hope Robyn has enough sense to accept Sage and the light. Her soul is in such confusion it is hard to say what she'll choose."

* * *

Mariko was right when she had said that Robyn was drowning in darkness because black was all he could see. Sage shuddered as the evil blackness slowly became aware of his presence and began to churn around him. How could she even possibly survive for a couple of hours in this darkness let alone live with it for her whole life?

Profound sympathy flooded over him, as he truly understood why she feared anything about her past. It always reminded her of how different she was and that she had been born with this darkness instead of having the option of choosing it. Not that she would have chosen it, for her personality portrayed differently, but she had been given this darkness. It had been forced upon her and she had not even known why. She still did not no doubt.

'_Sage…' _Mariko's voice called over the distance of blackness. '_Sage, while I am confining myself as your anchor I cannot take an astral form. I am half in and half out of this plane. Cody is standing as my own anchor which why I am half-and-half.'_

'_So, what are you saying? What plane am I in?'_ he asked her.

'_You are in Robyn's personal astral plane, the plane is which her soul resides. I can merely guide you in what actions to take, so please listen to me for a change?'_ she requested, slight humor in her voice.

'_All right then, what's first?'_

'_Find her, search through the darkness and find her. Let me know when you do.'_

Search for her in this darkness? How was he to do that? The darkness was like a London fog; he could barely see his hand when his arm is outstretched. And he wanted him to search for her? He growled in frustration as he moved forward, not knowing what other action to take. He focused part of his energy however, fending off the darkness that was threatening to crash against him.

A scream shattered his concentration a few moments later. The scream sounded exactly like the one from his nightmare and panic overtook his body. He lurched forward as he broke out running and was thankful to find no barrier in his way.

"_Robyn!"_ he shouted in to the darkness. _"Robyn, answer me!"_

_At times life is wicked and I just can't see the light_, her voice sung softly, floating among the darkness of her astral plane.

"_Robyn answer me please!"_ he called again. He ran through the black atmosphere, forcing down the sudden hysteria that was beginning to bubble in him. Why was he so out of control of his emotions? It was always Robyn who got under his skin, knew how to push just the right buttons; always Robyn who would goad him into doing something on a whim…occasionally.

Another scream broke through his thoughts and white/gold lightening flashed above him. Sage paused for a moment; the scream had come from a different direction now and at the same time echoing from all sides due to the infernal darkness! He could not pinpoint her location!

"_Robyn where are you?"_ he shouted and waited for an answer.

A silver lining sometimes isn't enough to make some wrongs seem all right…_she once again sang._

"_It's me Sage! Robyn, answer me!"_

_Whatever life brings, I've been through everything, and now I'm on knees again…_

_"Robyn! Stop singing and answer me!"_

_But I know I must go on. Although I hurt I must be strong…_

_"Sage?" _her voice called softly. "_Sage, is that you?"_

Another cream echoed across the darkness, followed by malicious laughter that grew in volume as the screams grew louder.

"_Robyn!" _he yelled, racing towards the fearful sounds.

The darkness gave way suddenly, revealing a border of light and dark. Sage automatically moved to the side of light, sighing as he instantly felt more secure. There was a pained sob however, as the light calmed him.

He turned quickly to the border and found his redhead companion, only there were two of her now! One was draped in a pure white robe-like gown and her hair was straight, cascading past her shoulders. She seemed as if she were straining to reach the border but could not due to the other Robyn who held her back, the darker Robyn. The darker one was dressed in a deep purple gown that was off the shoulders and plunged dangerously low while her red sausage-curled hair was pulled back into a bun. Both wore a necklace of gold and silver that was designed in the shape of a web, and both were on the side of darkness.

_"Robyn?"_ he called out and the two paused their struggle to regard him in surprise.

_"Sage?"_ they echoed in unison.

'_Mariko, what's going on? Why are there two of her?'_ he asked.

'_She's been split, she can no longer balance both sides. Her side of light is too weak to withstand against her darker half. Convince her to join you and the others quickly!'_ Mariko hissed at him.

Sage took a deep breath; _"Robyn, what's wrong?"_

The two regarded him quizzically, "_What do you mean?"_

"_Why are you doing this?"_

_"I don't know…"_

_"Yes you do, why would you be fighting yourself if you didn't?"_

_"I can't………I can't…………"_

Sage growled in frustration. This was getting him nowhere!

'_Have patience, Halo. She is trying to say that she can't decide on either side.'_

Calming himself, he tried again. "_Robyn, what do you want?"_ he asked gently.

"_I want to forget……forget everything………"_

_"Why?"_

_"Because it hurts!"_

_"What hurts?"_

_"Knowing that I was created for this single purpose! To bring destruction and evil into the world! Knowing that they never really cared…"_

_"Who never really cared, Robyn?"_ he questioned, already knowing the answer. But if he could get her to confide in her, then he could convince her to go back with him.

"_My…my…why do you care?!"_

_"I'm you're friend Robyn. We all are."_

_"Nice way of showing it…"_

_"Robyn, please—"_

_"Please what?"_

_"Please come back with me and we can all get through this together."_

_"How?"_

_"We'll find a way. The others are waiting for us…please."_

_"You guys care…why? What makes you all care so much about me?"_

_"You're personality…the way you accept everyone for who they are, giving every one a chance, I suppose."_

_"My parents never cared…why?! Why couldn't they just love me?!"_ the two voices cracked and they both sounded like a lost and confused child.

"_I'm not sure…they had problems, Robyn."_

_"But…"_

_"Come with me and we'll find a way to get through this! Please!"_ he begged.

_"Is there a way?"_ they asked in unison, sounding cold and doubtful. They watched him warily as he approached the border and held his hand to them.

_"What are you—"_ she began to ask.

_"Come with me please, Robyn. We care about you and we can't stand to see you like this."_

_"But I can't decide…"_

"You don't have to yet! Just take my hand and we can go back!"

The lighter Robyn strained against her other half, stretching her arm as far as she could go and Sage reached across the border, grabbing her wrist and pulling. Lightening flashed above with such intensity as the two screamed out in pain.

Sage watched in horror as the two melded into one right in front of his very eyes. The darker half screaming louder than the other, a lightening bolt struck them as soon as the two were merged. Robyn's hair was pulled back into a ponytail, still sausage curled and wore a white version of the off the shoulder gown, only more modest. She had stopped screaming.

_"Robyn?"_ he whispered, brushing a few strands away from eyes to see her face clearly.

She blinked a few times before bursting into tears and clinging to him suddenly. Sage stiffened instinctively as she buried her face into his chest, crying immensely. He pushed aside the uneasy feeling that had risen in him and awkwardly held.

"_Robyn, are you all right?"_ he questioned softly.

"_I'm so scared! I don't know what to do!"_ she cried, tears still falling.

_'She's ready to return now. We must leave quickly before you shift the scales __**too**__ much,'_ Mariko said across his mind.

'_How do we—'_

Sage felt the strange sensation of falling backwards but was startled at the speed at which he was falling. He felt himself slow down before hitting something. Somewhere along the way Robyn had been torn from him and he had heard cry out in fear.

He sat up abruptly, breathing harshly and found himself in Mia's living room in the same spot from before he'd gone to find Robyn. Mariko sat up, stretching her arms lazily and blinked sleepily before turning to the coach. Cye was already at Robyn's side, helping her to sit up as she looked around with a dazed expression.

"Robyn, are you okay?" Cye asked as she shook her head.

"Yeah, sure…I—I—I'm sorry you guys…" she whispered, hanging her head.

Sage winced as he felt a slight headache coming on. He rubbed his temples, squeezing his eyes shut at the pain but quickly opened them as steam wafted into his face. He stared at a cup of tea being held out to him by Cody. The bearer of Gaea smiled reassuringly at him.

"It'll help with the headache," she said and he frowned at her. How had she known he had a headache?

"How—" he began but stopped when Mariko groaned in pain.

The latter stood up groggily, stumbling towards the kitchen. "Don't be complaining Halo, you're headache has even reached its full capacity. Me on the other hand…I hope you made more of that tea Cody-chan," the bearer of Phoenix stated, leaving the living room.

"She's right, don't complain. You'll be sorry later when you have a huge-ass migraine. I've done that traveling with her before and those things are killers. Trust me," Cody laughed, again handing him the tea. Sage docilely accepted it.

"Now, I suggest rest for you guys, and that includes you sister dear!" Cody ordered as Mariko reentered the living room, sipping her newfound cup of tea.

Mariko winced, "Not so loud…jeez, make me pass out why don't ya?"

"I need some time alone…" Robyn said suddenly, leaving the room with her own tea that Cye had just given her. "I need some time think…"

Sage watched, as Cye was about to object but stopped when Cody shook her head sadly. None of the others bothered stopping the redhead either. Sage calmly sipped his tea, sitting Indian-style on the floor for he felt too tired to move and he watched her leave; maybe things would slow down now, but something told him it was not.


	12. Nature’s Love, Nature’s Soul, Nature’s C...

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Eleven: Nature's Love, Nature's Soul, Nature's Call, Prophecies Unfold

Written By: Tiasha

* * *

_I spent a day by the river_

_It was quiet and the wind stood still_

_I spent some time with nature_

_To remind me of all that's real_

_It's funny how silence speaks sometimes when you're alone_

_And remember that you feel_

**Creed, "Faceless Man"**

* * *

The rain had started nearly half an hour ago, around the same time when she had taken her seat out here in the sunroom. Robyn listened to the soft patter of rain on the glass and siding, staring ruefully at the surreal landscape bathed in the misty rain. Even the earth had to remind her of how pure it was, untainted by the evil of man. She sadly watched as a few sparrows twittered across the large lawn to the forest, seeking shelter from the gentle yet large raindrops.

She traced a raindrop on the glass as she heard murmuring inside. She caught only a few words of the conversation but her lips twitched upward as she heard Kento whine about how hungry he was. She frowned however, as a dull pain flooded her head and she quickly took another sip of her tea. Cody had refilled her cup only five minutes ago and she was grateful. The tea soothed her nerves though she was not suffering from a migraine the way Mariko and Sage were, but she felt immensely guilty, for they were suffering because of her.

The sounds of bantering continued and Robyn was pretty sure that she heard Rowen and Cody arguing again; though she personally wouldn't call it arguing, more like flirting. Robyn smiled at the fact that Cody had come out of her own shell. She had noticed how the bearer of Gaea was uncomfortable dropping her soldier façade but it seemed that as they all spent a little more time together, everyone was dropping the tough soldier act, all but Sage that is. He was still being indifferent as always, which did not surprise her in the least actually. Everyone else was willing to forget what was going on if only for a few moments of peace and normalcy, no one even hinting that they were all in danger still. They were all tired and more than eager to accept some friendly bickering and fun.

But Robyn could not help but remember those bodies lying motionless on the floor. She had never wished to hurt them; she had just wanted them to leave her alone. She had wanted to come home and not worry about anything but graduation, exams, and make-up work. But she had killed them, not injured, killed. And she felt no better than Dragon or Talpa…

Robyn stood abruptly, letting the afghan fall to the futon without a second thought. Even though it was nearing summer and the weather was _quite_ warm, Robyn had been cold, cold from the inside out. The fact of knowing that she carried a spawn of evil inside of her body had chilled her soul and the afghan had provided some comfort. But as she now placed her tea on the coffee table and moved to the porch door, she felt almost rejuvenated, wanting nothing more than to run without limitations and without worries.

She opened the screen door and stepped outside into the rain, raising her head to the sky. The rain kissed her face as droplets cascaded down her cheeks and nose, her clothes becoming damp. She stepped down the stairs and off the porch silently, not bothering to tell anyone she was going. She knew they would either insist she stay put or someone go with her if she did, but all she wanted was to be alone. As she stepped onto the wet grass, she stared at the scene before her. It was so beautiful.

She walked across the lawn to the forest, remotely wondering how upset Cye would be when he found her missing from the sunroom. Her socks were now soaked, creating a slight squishy sound as she continued on. When she was a few yards away from the forest, Robyn broke out into a run, her footsteps hurried as she raced into the heart of nature and away from man.

Robyn dodged a few low branches as she finally slowed to a walk. She had no idea how long or far she had ran, but she felt better despite various cuts across her face, arms and legs from branches and bramble. It was almost as if a slight burden had been lifted and she felt cleansed. She meandered on, feeling free of worries and a surreal sense of peace soothed her frazzled nerves. Nature was trying to help her forget and she smiled.

She paused when the underbrush lightened and a clearing came before her. It's serene atmosphere filled her with extra energy and she smiled again. Her smile quickly turned to a frown as she heard an eerie howl resonate through the forest. She ignored it upon realizing how distant it was and stepped into the middle of the clearing, lifting her head up to stare at the gray sky through the patches of foliage. Droplets of water continued to fall but they had now slowed to a drizzle and Robyn stood there for a time allowing her clothes to become thoroughly soaked by the falling water.

The same eerie howl reached her ears five minutes later and Robyn realized that it was now a bit closer than before. She quickly decided that it was time to head back. No sense in becoming some animal's meal just because she had to get away and be alone. She turned and took a step to retrace her path but stopped as she heard a rustle in the underbrush off to her left. Whipping her head in that direction, she stared into the foliage, watching intently for some sign of movement. Nothing.

A growl was emitted from the other side and Robyn turned, gasping as she saw a pack of wolves emerge from the edge of the clearing. They paced around her, all thirteen of them forming an elaborate circle with her in the middle and Robyn watched terrified as many of the wolves licked their muzzles. One prepared to jump and Robyn backed up a step as it launched itself at her. She raised her arm in front of her face, screaming as she was left helpless to these beasts. All she could do was hope that she would die quickly.

---

They all stared at it with such wariness that one would believe they were afraid it would jump up and bite them. Mariko finally moved to the table, relinquishing her spot on the wall for Cody to have as the younger twin now entered the room, curious as to why almost everyone was at the kitchen table. The eldest twin picked up the marble-like object, turning it over and over in her hand, contemplating what the kanji was. Hogo.

Mariko turned to look at her sister, "Cody, get my dictionary will you?"

Cody raised an eyebrow at the request, pushing of the wall as a sigh of resignation but halted as Rowen spoke.

"It means protection," he stated from his seat next to Ryo. Mariko turned to look at him and then at the marble before placing it on the table.

"No wonder she kept on having a streak of good luck," Mariko laughed.

"Good luck? She's been threatened, stalked, shot at, kidnapped and for the love of Anubis you call that _good_?!" Cye yelled, slamming his palms on the table, standing. "I don't know where you get your definitions but the last time I looked, good was something totally different!"

Mariko stared at him calmly, assessing his sudden outburst. "Well, Robyn is alive is she not? The fact that she _wasn't_ killed in all of that proves that the armor reacted to her. She had it with her every time."

"She told me that the guy who sold her the marble also gave her a wooden cross and said that _that_ would protect her," Rowen said, frowning. "Is it possible that the guy was wrong?"

Mariko blanched, "He said what? No wonder Matt was so antsy when he got near her!"

"What? Because of the cross?" Kento asked, remembering how vampires were always afraid of crosses in the movies.

"No, the wood."

"The wood? I thought it was a stake through the heart?"

"Close…any wood objects, excluding trees and shrubs and things of that sort. Wood can kill him if he's not careful."

Silence reigned for a moment, Cye now sitting back down in his chair and a few of them looked up when the screen door out in the sunroom opened and closed. Rowen raised an eyebrow and strained to see around the corner but with no luck.

"Think someone should check on her?" Kento asked, preparing to get up.

Ryo shook his head, "Nah, it's probably just White Blaze wanting in now that he's all wet."

"What's a White Blaze?" Cody asked anxiously, eyeing them all worriedly.

"A really big kitty," Mia joked and the Ronins laughed. White Blaze was definitely a _really BIG _kitty. They frowned when Mariko and Cody looked at each other apprehensively; the two seemed to know something they did not.

"Why? What's the big deal?" Kento asked frowning as they two smiled weakly at them all. Cody moved to the sunroom a bit too quickly for their comfort.

"No reason," the twins answered in unison rather quickly. Cody was just about to turn the corner when Mia spoke.

"The two animals will be fine Cody. I'm sure of it," the brunette explained.

"Uh, not if Shadow attacks it!" Cody responded.

"Shadow? What's a Shadow?" Rowen mimicked and Cody glared.

"A really BIG puppy!" the younger twin announced with nervousness.

Kento and Rowen cringed at the answer and mental picture. A tiger versus a wolf? Oh yeah…not a good thing, especially the outcome of such a fight.

"When did you get a wolf?" Ryo inquired curious as to how another person had acquired such an…exotic pet.

Cody was about to answer when a faint, eerie howl reached their ears. Cody grinned ruefully, "That would be my precious now. She can never keep her muzzle shut. I found my little precious when I found my armor. Shadow was the guardian of my armor and she was only a pup at the time, poor thing. She was so exhausted and malnourished when she came to me. So I nursed her back to health and she has been with me ever since," the bearer of Gaea explained. She then sighed in exasperation, "Can I go now?"

"I don't know, can you?" Mariko teased.

"Har har…_may_ I go now little Miss Grammar Perfectionist?"

"Kaijuu."

"Perra."

"Doitashimashite imoto."

"De nada."

Kento blinked, "What did you guys just say? I caught the 'monster' and 'thank you, little sister' part."

Mariko and Cody grinned at them as if it were their own little secret. "Sorry, my lips are sealed," Mariko joked and Cody nodded saying ditto for herself.

"Yeah well mine aren't," Rowen began, "After 'monster' Cody said 'bitch' in Spanish and then 'your welcome' also in Spanish."

The two twins blinked in surprise and shock. "What are you? A human translator for fifty different languages?" Cody snapped.

"Maybe but at least I'm not a witch doctor."

"Salot!"

"What?! I am not a slut! I'm not even the right gender to be one thank you!"

"Maybe…but at least I'm not gay."

"Ooooh…below the belt there Cody. Speaking of below the belt, 'when a man wears his pants that tight, they tend to pinch his balls, and that tends to pinch his temper.' Wouldn't you agree imoto?" Mariko teased, quoting from one of her favorite books.

Cody busted out laughing upon hearing the quote, while all of the males looked at Mariko with an unappreciative look, even a few glares. Mariko proceeded to apologize and explain the situation in the book and that it was nothing personal to any of them.

The younger twin smiled upon deciding to do a quote herself from the same book. "Yes, I do agree; in fact, 'he snarled a lot and kept telling me to keep my hands off him since he's married man. He didn't want to get undressed, but I pointed out that, since he was married, he should know better than to try to get into a bed wearing boots in that condition. While we wrestled with the boots, we pondered how that little fish got wedged under the laces. And Saetan asked, How _did_ it get under the laces. Surreal replied, He has no idea. So I gave the fish a proper burial at sea, so to speak, convinced Lucivar that stripping to the waist was not improper since I'm family, and let what was left of him fall into bed." I remember a few times when I had to do that with you oneesan. In fact you did the same thing to Josh; if I recall correctly you even _attempted_ to hit him upside the head with a pillow."

Mariko presently became flustered, "I did no such thing imoto!"

"How would you know? You were drunk, remember? You almost never remember anything when you're drunk," Cody quipped.

"Damn it, that's right…not fair! Though I do recall a few times when you actually got a bit tipsy. Now _that's_ a funny site."

Cody presently ignored her sister's last comment as she now noticed the slightly mortified expression on Cye's face. "Uh, Cye…you okay?"

"Burial at sea? As in flushed the fish down the toilet?!" he squeaked, the stricken look still present on his handsome face and eyes wide.

The twins nodded slowly and then realized the error of their ways. The two immediately apologized redundantly but Cody stopped to look out at the sunroom when a second eerie howl was heard. She suddenly tensed, hearing something unpleasantly familiar in the howl. It was her Shadow, she knew that, but it was a warning…a warning to invaders of territory, a warning to other packs usually. Cody knew very well that Shadow would stay off of other pack territory and not bother chasing packs off her own unless they came to close to the house. But with what was going on, it was very possible that Shadow was warning _humans_ away.

"Something's not right, guys," she whispered, "I'm going to check on Shadow real quick. That howl was a warning and I doubt it was towards your White Blaze."

"I'll check on Robyn," Cye said, standing and pushing his chair back. Everyone paused and stared at the sunroom in fear as a familiar scream echoed into the house.

* * *

Robyn clenched her eyes shut as she felt fur brush across her arm and waited for the sharp canine teeth to sink into her. Instead she heard a yip of pain and deep feminine growl. She opened her eyes to see an _extremely_ large, black wolf standing in front of her protectively. The black wolf's head came up to her chest, much higher than any normal wolf and even higher than where White Blaze stood! White Blaze came to about the middle of her ribs and yet here was a black wolf _larger_ than her kitty friend!

The wolf continued to growl menacingly at the circling pack of wolves and then to Robyn's surprise, curled its lips back and spoke!

"Stay away from the human, you dogs! You're out of your territory! I will not let you harm the human, is that clear?!" the wolf growled in a warning to tone that brooked no argument. After her initial shock of hearing a wolf speak, Robyn realized that wolf was female.

"You can speak," she whispered in awe to the she-wolf. The she-wolf turned suddenly and made as if to attack and Robyn stumbled backwards, falling onto her rear end. She threw her arms up to cover her face and again felt fur brush across her arms, followed by a savage howl and a pitiful yelp of pain. Robyn looked up and found that the she-wolf had jumped over her in order to protect her from an unseen attack.

The she-wolf now loomed over a much smaller wolf that lay unmoving. The she-wolf licked her bloody muzzle until it was clean and then lunged to snap at other wolves that had dared to break circle and attack Robyn. Robyn was absolutely speechless nor could she think of a means to escape.

"Just like a male! Never around when you need them! Blaze where are you?!" the she-wolf growled aloud, almost yelling as she paced around in front of Robyn. Robyn still sat unmoving. The she-wolf moved to stand with Robyn underneath her, like a mother wolf would to protect her pups. A sudden wave of security washed over her and Robyn knew that no matter what happened, this wolf would not let any harm come to her.

Two wolves couched side by side and sprang at them but out of nowhere, White Blaze knocked the two down, roaring at the others in warning. Now Robyn felt even safer with White Blaze, for where there was White Blaze, there were the guys. And how could they NOT have heard her scream?

"It's about time! Did you think I could take a whole pack on by myself with a human to protect as well?" the she-wolf questioned White Blaze. White Blaze merely glanced at her and growled his answer.

"Yes, you're right, now is not the time to discuss this!"

Robyn blinked; how was it the she-wolf could talk anyway?

"When I say go, I want you to run like the devil, understand Empress?" the she-wolf announced after chasing a few more of the beasts away from her. Empress? Robyn remembered how Dragon had called her the Dark Mother Empress. She cringed, was that going to be her new title now, because if it was, she sure as Hell wanted to change it!

Robyn barely had time to respond before she was told to run and she clumsily stumbled back the way she had come. She tore through the branches and under brush, breathing jaggedly as she heard other bodies crash through the forest behind her. She ordered herself not to scream as the sound of their panting grew nearer and pushed herself harder. If she could get closer to the house then maybe the guys would be close enough to hear her.

Her resolve not to scream failed when she tripped over a decaying log and landed hard on her arm. She had pushed herself into a sitting position just in time to see the wolves that had followed her. The nearest one lunged at her and Robyn crab-crawled backward, screaming in fear. She saw a flash of orange and white followed by a painful yelp. She cried out her savior's name with relief and joy as he knocked the second wolf away.

"Kento!" Robyn stood and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug and he returned the gesture. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you!"

"Well, I can take a wild guess, right?" he joked as Ryo crashed through the branches to him. The two were in their sub-armor and Ryo went ahead to where White Blaze and the she-wolf were. It was not until now that Robyn heard the menacing animalistic battle going on. White Blaze roared presently and she winced as she felt a sudden body breeze past her at an impossible speed. All she saw was a black and brown blur. She surmised that it was Cody; only Cody had black and brown sub-armor.

"Robyn!" a familiar British accented voice called. Robyn turned and embraced Cye as he approached her and Kento. "Robyn, are you all right?"

She nodded, not letting go. She had thought she was going to die! No one was with her and it had scared the shit out of her! To die alone…

"I'm fine," she partially lied. She was still intact so that was where she could truthfully say she was all right, but to almost die alone…she never wanted that to happen! Especially not out in the wilderness by savage wolves!

"It doesn't make much sense though," Rowen commented as he and Sage arrived, all in sub-armor. Robyn noticed that Mariko was not with them; perhaps the eldest twin had passed by already and she had not known? Or the more logical answer was that the bearer of Phoenix was with Mia.

"What doesn't?" Kento asked, not seeing the reasoning Rowen was using.

"Wolves don't come this close to civilization, even Mia said they had never come this close before," Rowen answered.

"So you're saying that something influenced them to pass the boundary they had set for themselves and attack Robyn?" Sage questioned the blue-haired youth. Rowen nodded in answer and looked around them.

"Should we check to make sure this something isn't still around?" Cye suggested, still cradling her. She had listened passively, being comforted by Cye's protective embrace.

Sage nodded and Rowen agreed that would be the best action to take. Robyn heard her childhood friend sigh and ask Kento to take her back to the house. She docilely let Cye go and watched the three scatter in a blur of white, green, dark blue and light blue. Turning, she grabbed onto Kento's arm, needing to feel safe and he wrapped an armored arm around her slender shoulders. The two walked back to the house in silence until Kento broke it.

"Robyn…why were you out that far into the woods?"

She contemplated his question and the answer she would give him, for she hardly knew the answer herself. "I wanted to get away," she whispered softly.

"Away from what?"

"Everything…"

"You know we wouldn't let anything happen to you, right?"

Anger suddenly flared inside of her as she realized how many times they had promised her that…and yet she was now carrying an evil seed within her. They had promised her and she was still getting into trouble and still getting hurt! The anger quickly died as Kento stopped and made her look at him, his eyes searching hers worriedly. It was then that she realized she had not answered him and he was still waiting for her to answer.

"We wouldn't let anything hurt you, you've gotta believe me," he assured her and she shook her head.

"Where you guys when they did this to me?" she whispered, placing a hand on her abdomen. She could feel its energy beneath her palm and she jerked it away, still unused to the new sensitivity she had gained with energies.

Robyn watched Kento's face take on a helpless look and she immediately regretted asking the question. She knew they had all been busy making sure she _would_ be safe here at Mia's that they had forgotten if she would be safe by herself at the hospital. It wasn't their fault, she reminded herself.

"I'm sorry Robyn…I—" he began but she cut him off.

"No, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I had just given Mariko that stupid marble in the very beginning none of this would have happened."

"But we promised—"

"How about this, you say you're sorry, I'll say I'm sorry and we'll call it even. Deal?" she bargained, keeping a light tone and held out her hand.

Kento grinned and they shook on it. Robyn smiled and was grateful that Kento did not bring up the 'broken' promise again as they walked back to Mia's. She just wanted to forget about it, have a nice shower since her clothes were soaked and the temperature had dropped, and go to bed.

---

Ryo stared in bewilderment for a moment as he saw how large this black wolf really was. After reaching White Blaze and fending off a few other wolves Cody had joined them, knocking away a few wolves of her own. She had then thrust her fist into the ground and said something in what he guessed was Spanish since she seemed fluent in that language. The ground had shook and all the wolves had paused to regard the sudden earthquake in surprise before yelping and prancing around has vines had shot out of the earth and tethered them to trees and the ground.

"Shadow! You're hurt!" Cody now exclaimed, having finished dealing with the pack of wolves. The bearer of Gaea fussed over the wound her pet had received and Ryo took the time to check on White Blaze. Thankfully the white tiger had gained no injuries during his fight and Ryo patted the tiger's shoulder for a job well done as he and White Blaze waited on Cody.

He was stunned as Cody waved her hand in a circle towards a few trees and watched as the mud flowed towards her like a river, carrying leaves and flowers in its currents. The mud-river halted and Cody plucked a few flowers from it and held them to the wolf's muzzle. The wolf sniffed the flora and promptly snorted in refusal.

"Oh now don't you be a pain! Eat!" Cody ordered and glared at her pet wolf as it again snorted in refusal. "Shadow," Cody warned and the wolf curled back its lips.

"Do you have any idea how foul those things taste?" the wolf asked in a feminine voice and Ryo staggered backwards in surprise. How could a wolf talk?!

"I don't care how crappy it tastes, it's for your own good. It'll dull the pain," Cody answered, unphased by the question. She again forced the flowers towards the wolf's muzzle and the she-wolf ate them.

While Ryo attempted to fathom how this wolf could talk when it was absolutely improbable, Cody had set to work making a paste out of the other leaves and flowers the little mud-river had brought her. She was soon done and stood to face him, giving him a quizzical look as he stared at the she-wolf.

"What?" she asked him as the she-wolf came and stood beside her. The wolf stood at the middle of her ribs and she seemed to have no problem with that fact.

"It talked—" Ryo began but stopped as the she-wolf growled at him in annoyance.

"Well of course I can talk! All guardians can talk, whether they are human or not! Don't you orijinarus know anything?" the she-wolf questioned and Cody patted her pet on the head none too gently.

"Shadow! Manners!" the bearer of Gaea scolded and looked at Ryo apologetically. "Sorry about that, usually she prefers to stay silent. She's right though, whether it is human or not a Guardian can speak. Phoenix's guardian, Fala, can as well. Speaking of which, where is that bird?"

"Who knows, that pigeon goes where she wants to go. She doesn't give a thought to if Mariko-san will need her or not," the she-wolf replied and yawned, licking her muzzle.

"And you do? That's a first, the only time you give my sister a lot of attention is when you're her model," Cody quipped and turned back to Ryo, pointedly ignoring her pet's response. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Let's get back and check on Robyn," Ryo said, digesting this new information. So far there were two of these 'guardians' and could speak even though they were not human. He chuckled as the two of them walked back to the house each with their animal companion by their side. Rowen was going to flip when he heard 'Shadow' speak; he wouldn't be able to think of a witty comeback for the she-wolf for a few moments that was for sure!

* * *

"Ah! It talks!" Rowen yelled in surprise as the black she-wolf yawned and tipped her head at him curiously. "What the—how in the—I don't believe—"

"Is it really so hard to believe that I can speak?" the she-wolf growled in annoyance as she moved and flopped down near White Blaze. At least with him she wouldn't have to speak the Human Language to be understood.

"Ah! It did it again!" Rowen yelled and backed away from the large, black beast in surprise.

"Shadow, wolves just normally don't talk. You know that!" Cody laughed as she watched her pet shake her head from side to side.

"Mm, still! They should have known that _I_ could at least. I mean, you did tell them I was the Guardian of Gaea, did you not?"

"Yes, but they did not know that even if the Guardian was not human, it could still speak."

"What? How can they not know—oh how ignorant these orijinarus are. I swear, if the Ancient One had just done what my ancestor had advised him to do then they would have known."

Cody sighed, "Shadow, don't start that again. It's late and we're all tired."

The wolf yawned again and placed her head on her crossed paws, a sign that meant she had retired from speaking for the rest of the evening. Cody smiled in relief and then laughed at Rowen's expression, which was a mixture of awe, surprise, shock, and was that a little bit of fear?

Rowen promptly turned and glared at her, "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, just that a brave warrior is frightened by a canine," she replied mildly. She was thoroughly enjoying this.

"Yeah, well that canine is large and can talk! Anybody would freak out if they saw a talking wolf!"

"Rowen, for Christ's sake shut up about the talking wolf and help me with this trig question!" Robyn snapped at the blue-haired youth from her chair. She had just recently exited the shower, her hair French-braided for the night, and was now lounging in an armchair, trying to catch up on homework. "Please," she added as an afterthought.

Rowen looked at the redhead doubtfully as he moved to see the question. Cody left the room as the blue-haired youth started helping Robyn with the question. Trigonometry was not her strong point; no math was really, except for Geometry. Geometry was the one class that Mariko had done terribly in, no matter what she did. Speaking of Mariko…

Cody glanced around but found her sister nowhere in sight. She frowned at that and stretched her senses through her armor, trying to reach her sister that way. She found Phoenix's aura in the sunroom and Cody pulled back from her armor. Having Earth as one's elements had it's advantages, like being able to sense bodies even through concrete and sheetrock.

As she had concluded, Mariko was out in the sunroom, hanging a few hammocks up. The futon was pulled out, covered in sheets and pillows and Cody tipped her head curiously. She watched her sister place the last hammock up and then turn to her, smiling.

"I figured you'd want the futon since you don't exactly like the floating feeling hammocks give," her sister announced and Cody nodded her thanks. Silence reigned for a moment before Cody frowned at the look her sister was giving her.

"What?" she asked defensively as she recognized the look. It was an almost maternal look and Cody usually hated it. She hated being the baby and she was not fond of being babied, though she did tolerate it when need be.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Cody blinked and took a step back; what was she referring to?

"You know, about which ever Ronin?" her sister coaxed. Cody blanched; she had totally forgot that she had wanted help getting out of her soldier façade, and the offer Strata had made her. What was Mariko talking about now thought? Did her sister see something that she did not?

"Cody, come sit," her sister again coaxed.

Cody docilely sat down next to her sister on the futon, waiting for whatever embarrassment or anger to strike. "What is it you see?" Cody finally asked.

"You and Rowen are arguing more often," was the answer the younger twin received. She huffed; her sister was going to be cryptic again and she did NOT appreciate it.

"So? It's too easy to pick on him."

"Really? You don't think it is something else?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I was thinking…you're element is earth, his is air…you're an atarashii ronin and his is an orijinaru…"

"What are you getting at onesan?"

"Opposites attract."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me imoto"

"Yes, but I wasn't sure if I heard you correctly. And what you're saying is absolutely impossible."

"How so?"

"He doesn't like me and I think I'd know if I liked him, which I don't."

"Cody-chan, you've never been in love, you've never dated and you've never had a boyfriend. How would _you_ know?"

Cody had no answer for her sister. Was it even remotely possible that she and Rowen were not arguing but in fact _flirting_? It did not seem logical…Cody would know if she was flirting and she was sure that she was not.

Mariko shook her head at her sister, "Not necessarily imoto. One does not always realize that they are flirting."

Cody frowned at her sister, "Don't do that again."

"Do what?" Mariko asked, startled.

"Use our blood-relation and armors to read what I'm thinking. It's too weird."

"Fine, but I'm hardly any good at it and it only happens when _you_ are confused, greatly confused might I add."

Cody frowned in thought as this new information sunk in. She supposed that it was possible that she and Rowen were flirting but…it just did not seem like it. Cody always received the impression that Rowen was interested in Robyn, and not in the friendly sense either. But Cody had no ill-feeling towards Robyn or Rowen and that was what continued to tell her that she and Rowen were not flirting.

Cody looked up suddenly as she realized that her sister had left the room already, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Cody brooded over what her sister had just said; one did not always realize that they were fighting…

Was it even possible? The thought triggered an odd feeling of excitement, but fear seemed to drown out all other emotions. She actually feared the possibility.

---

Sage calmly walked down the stairs of Mia's home, having just left a message on the machine at home, informing his parents that he would be spending the night at Mia's with the others. He did not doubt that they would be greatly alarmed by the sudden change of plans…but they would all need to come up with a cover story.

He turned the corner of the hallway and entered the den, only to pause in his tracks. He blinked and stared wide-eyed at the large canine predator that was staring at him a bit too intently. He knew he was paler than normal when Robyn asked him what was wrong. Sage did not bother to look away from the beast, nor answer his female friend. He heard her laugh after a moment and Sage broke eye contact with the black beast to whip his head in her direction, throwing a glare at her as she laughed even harder.

"Geez Sage, it's just a wolf," she said to him all too casually. Just a wolf? Was she blind?! The wolf was larger than White Blaze and yet she had made it sound as if it were a puppy!

Sage reminded himself that this was Robyn and she did have a tendency to treat every animal as if it were a baby of some sort. She seemed to love all animals, and he should not have found it shocking that she would act like the LARGE wolf was but a puppy.

"At least I'm not the only one who finds her intimidating," Rowen muttered from his seat on the sofa.

"Hush Blue-boy," Robyn replied. Rowen snorted at her order and went back to reading his book.

Sage watched as Robyn rolled her eyes and closed her Trigonometry book and crawled down onto the floor. White Blaze and the black wolf were lying on the floor next to her armchair, obviously not wanting to leave her alone. Robyn then buried her face in the large animal's fur. The wolf merely glanced at her, yawned, gave _him_ a warning look and then placed its head on its paws, still watching him. The wolf had seemed to adopt Robyn as her own to be giving such a look of warning and Sage suppressed a shudder.

Robyn was oblivious to the looks the wolf was sending him as he moved to find Mia and inform her that he was no longer using the phone. The young redhead still had her face buried in the wolf's fur and only looked up when Rowen spoke to her.

"I thought you were going to do homework?" the blue-haired youth questioned. Robyn merely groaned and stuck her tongue at him before curling up next to the wolf as if to take a nap.

Sage quickly retreated to the study, glad to be out of the wolf's line of vision. The wolf unnerved him; he had never been fond of predator animals and with a wolf larger than White Blaze being _inside_ the house did not ease his discomfort one bit.

Upon entering the study, Sage noticed that both Mariko and Mia were glued to a highly expensive laptop computer. Since when did Mia own a laptop? Mariko's eyes darted away from the screen to look at him before returning her attention to the computer. Mia did not even spare him a glance. The brunette was furiously typing away at the laptop and Sage wondered what had their undivided attention.

He cleared his throat, "I'm done with the phone Mia."

"Thanks Sage," was the only reply.

Sage frowned, granted he did not appreciate all the attention he received but this was much less than normal and he found himself moving to look over Mariko's shoulder. The two were looking at what seemed to be a poem but only partially translated.

Sage frowned as he automatically began translating the rest of the poem in his head. It was quite mellow, depressing and morbid and the title baffled him. Perfect Harmony? Mother of Darkness? Demons arise? This poem almost sounded like a legend of some sort, or a prophecy…

Sage jerked backwards at that thought and read over one part of the poem again. _Spring so fresh and green…_ Robyn's eyes were green and her hair was about as red as rose petals… This could not be a prophecy that involved Robyn, could it?

"Where did you find this?" he asked, startling Mia who must have assumed that he had left. Mariko crossed her arms and gave him a measuring glance before answering him.

"I found it when I went through the archives in the Palace. I had originally gone back to retrieve my valuables that I'd left when I fled from the Nether Realm during Talpa's invasion. I had also wanted to do a little research on my father's heritage and then came across this poem, along with two others. Kayura said she had never seen nor heard of them, so I took them with me when I left. I have yet to start translating the other two," the eldest twin explained. "Why? What have you deciphered from it?"

"I've merely translated all of it." Sage wanted to take the words back immediately when Mariko's ice blue eyes widened and then narrowed.

"Mia, let Sage have the computer," was all she said to the brunette before she abruptly grabbed his arm and shoved him into the computer chair. Sage had half a mind to tell her off but instead glared at her and reprimanded her for such a rude action.

"I have things to do, so if you both will excuse me," he said, preparing to stand; however, he froze like a statue when Mariko gently placed a hand on his hair. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she smiled smugly at him. The look reminded him all too much of the one his sister sometimes wore; he silently prayed to the Gods for mercy.

"Yes, you do have things to do," she said coolly, belaying any amusement seen on her face. "But this could be a matter of life and death for someone and _I_ would personally like to know _who_, wouldn't you?"

Sage opened his mouth to protest and again stand up but froze once more as Mariko's hand began to apply pressure to his head. He glared at her again, realizing what she was _actually_ threatening to do…she would mess up his hair if he got up now without even trying to help. He frowned, crossing his arms in defeat and looked over the poem once again before beginning to type the translations to the rest of the poem.

Mariko and Mia left him alone to work on the task at hand and he heard Mariko laugh as she entered the den with Mia chuckling. They must have seen Robyn curled up next to the large black beast, no doubt fast asleep.

"Robyn," he heard Mia begin to say, "Why don't you go on up to bed?"

"But it's nice and warm," came the redhead's slightly muffled reply. So she was not fast asleep after all, but she sounded like she would be out any moment now. He smiled slightly at that; both she and Rowen loved their sleep. His shoulders drooped slightly as fatigue slowly crept back into his mind. He still had been losing sleep because of that dream; and now with all that had happened, the dream was beginning to seem like more of an omen than a nightmare.

He heard Mia drop the subject as he continued to work and frowned as he realized that Rowen should have been the one to do this. The guy was better at translating word for word than he was. A startled cry from Cye however, reminded Sage that would much rather be here in the study than out there in that large wolf.

He had finished poem not long ago and now he stared at it, reading it over and over again as a sense of dread washed over him. Even though the poem did not specifically refer to Robyn as the Mother Empress, Sage could not shake the feeling that Robyn WAS this Mother Empress…

_'Oh God…she doesn't deserve this…'_ he thought to himself as he stared blankly at the laptop screen. _ 'Hasn't she been through enough? Her parents having so many problems was enough torture for a child but this too?!'_

Sage took a deep breath and closed his eyes to try and calm his thoughts. The least he could do at this point was to be there for her when she needed them all. He now understood how she felt about her past having gone into her personal astral plane, which did not seem to worry him as much as he had originally thought it would. For to go to someone's astral plane was almost like reading their minds and emotions, like being a part of them. He had been raised to respect everyone's privacy, he cherished his own greatly, and he had never set foot anywhere near or in her room unless it had been necessary. He had been raised as a gentleman and gentleman he would continue to be.

But he now knew how deep those childhood wounds of hers ran, and like Cye, he would do everything in his power to protect Robyn from anymore pain.


	13. What If?

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Twelve: What if?

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_I know I can't hold the hate inside my mind_

_'Cause what consumes your thoughts controls your life_

_So I'll just ask a question_

_What if?_

_What if your words could be judged like a crime?_

**Creed, "What If?"**

* * *

The shadows crawled along the walls and ceiling in mass numbers, twisting and clumping together to form frightful images. As a child she had feared them immensely but now, at eighteen and after everything that had happened, she no longer did. Now she viewed them with distaste and contempt as she sat down with her new mug of hot cocoa. She gently placed Ryo's head back in her lap and sipped the hot liquid from her mug, allowing its warmth to soothe her inside. The young bearer of Wildfire had fallen asleep hours ago while watching television with her and Robyn had not the heart to wake him now. Besides, it would morning soon enough.

The darkness was having a calming effect on her too, giving her a sense of peace, relaxation and courage. That fact disturbed her. She feared that she was slowly becoming a part of the darkness, slowly losing control of herself, slowly losing her own self. She did not want that to happen, she did not want to be controlled by the darkness nor be a part of it. And yet, now she was. The Dark Emperor was part of her.

But was there a possibility of changing the energy, of changing everything so that the darkness was not evil?

The clock chimed once and Robyn sighed. It was one o'clock in the morning and she was still wide-awake, fearing the slumber that awaited her. She was afraid that her dreams would be dark and haunting, like she was. She was evil now, wasn't she?

Click-clack. Click-clack. Tap, tap, tap, clack, clack. The sounds of nails on the floor were suddenly hushed as Shadow padded onto the carpet of the den. The large canine whined and approached her, flopping down at her feet.

"Kitten," the she-wolf spoke softly, "What troubles you?"

Shadow had taken to calling her 'Kitten' and Robyn had no quarrel with it. When Shadow used the name, it was always in a compassionate, motherly tone, and Robyn appreciated it. While Cye's mother would be the first woman she would seek comfort from, this situation was something Robyn could not really _explain_ without telling the _whole_ story and she had no desire to do that. Mariko occasionally acted like a motherly figure, but Robyn did not have that sense of confidence with the ronin of Phoenix as she did with Cye's mother. Shadow on the other hand…

"Am I evil?" Robyn whispered softly to the only mother figure available. She watched as the she-wolf jerked her head back in surprise before snorting and shaking her head. The action was quite adorable when done by an animal and Robyn giggled softly, aware of the sleeping ronin in her lap.

"Hardly! Kitten, do not believe that just because you carry a seed of evil means that you are too. You are far from it! That is why you are able to survive carrying it," the black wolf explained, nudging Robyn's foot in the process.

Robyn sighed and ran her hand through Ryo's raven locks, the mere movement being comforting. He was safe, as was all of them, and that was all that mattered. Or at least should have been all that mattered, so why was she still worried?

"Robyn, you cannot consider yourself evil for if you do they win."

"Then why do I feel so……so……"

"Out of place?"

Robyn nodded and took another sip of her cocoa, still playing with Ryo's hair. She loved his hair, well, more like was fascinated with it. Its texture and natural wave combined with the thickness…she just found it fun to play with.

"Kitten, did you know that your aura looks different than before? Before it was grey and tattered…now it's a soothing off-white. This power that is now at your dispense does what _you_ want it to do. When you use it…its energy becomes very similar to the armors."

"But it just feels so evil!"

"As will most things; there has to be balance. You are a perfect example of that balance."

"What do you mean?"

"You're pure of heart but contain a void of darkness. They balance and create a neutral energy."

Robyn nodded her head slowly, staring at the shadows on the wall. So what Shadow was implying was that she was not evil, but not good either so that she was a balance. Odd that she would be a balance and not Rowen since his zodiac sign was Libra; but how could he have any type of darkness in him? How could any of them? Robyn frowned suddenly and stared harder at the shadows on the wall. Had she just seen a pair of eyes in those shadows? She blinked and looked again but saw nothing.

_Must be the fatigue_, she thought to herself, finishing off her cocoa.

"What do you see, child?" Shadow asked softly.

Robyn shrugged, "Nothing, just my imagination, that's all."

"Are you so sure? Look again."

Robyn gave the she-wolf an odd look before looking at the shadows again. Nothing. Shaking her head, she heard Shadow sigh in disappointment.

"Look harder Kitten. Allow your imagination to drift."

"Why? What are you trying to have me do?"

"You'll see…if you look hard and allow your imagination to run."

Robyn blinked and stared back at the shadows, watching as they twisted and churned together, forming a humanoid clump and then dispersing again. She stared harder, straining to see what it was Shadow wanted her to. A pair of storm grey eyes stared back at her suddenly and Robyn gasped, jumping slightly. Thankfully, Ryo did not wake.

A beautiful woman phased through the wall of shadows and came to stand before her. Her eyes were a stormy grey and her hair reminded Robyn of rays of moonlight, which went cascading past broad shoulders and well-toned arms to end at the knees. The pale garment that wrapped around the woman in a toga fashion contrasted the dark skin of the woman greatly, giving a sense of one seeing the moon against the dark night of the sky.

'_Mother…' _the woman whispered across Robyn's mind and Robyn silenced her startled cry by clasping a hand over her mouth. Why had this…creature just called her mother?

_It's my imagination, nothing else!_ Robyn insisted.

'_You are the Mother Empress, are you not?'_ the woman again whispered across her mind. Robyn could only nod slowly. What was going on?

"What are you?" Robyn whispered to the woman. The woman bowed in respect before smiling. Her smile was even beautiful!

'_I am the bringer of dreams, my Empress. I bring dreams to mortals who sleep though they do not know. They have given me many names, though most call me the Sandman. The she-wolf and Ronin of Phoenix refer to me as Yume.'_

"Shadow can see you?"

"Well of course, kitten! Why do you think I insisted you look harder?" Shadow said lightly.

Robyn shook her in disbelief at the black she-wolf, "Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?"

"Would you have bothered if I told you that you could now see things that no other mortals can?"

'_My Empress, I fear the worst for one of your mortal friends,'_ the bringer of dreams, Yume, whispered softly as she hanged her head in failure.

"What do you mean?" Robyn asked quickly, fear creeping into her voice as she stared into those storm-grey eyes of Yume. Those eyes held such sorrow, sympathy, and pity that a lump formed in the back of Robyn's throat.

'_I have not been able to give him dreams for some time now. He is trapped in a continuous nightmare again and I have been blocked out of his mind so that I cannot free him.'_

_Again?_ Robyn thought to herself. The only person she could think of who had been ensnared in a continuous nightmare was Sage. But Sage seemed to be having no trouble sleeping at all this time around. Either that or he was doing a damn good job of hiding it, which was probably the case since he kept himself closed off from most people anyway. Still, she felt better if she were to ask this Yume who was suffering.

"Who is trapped?"

'_The one of light, my Empress_._ I have tried several times this week to break through the barrier that confines him, but I'm afraid that whoever is helping the Feeder is stronger than I. Not by much mind you, for I can still influence his day-dreams but just enough to where his night-dreams are beyond my reach.'_

"Sage…" Robyn whispered, shaking her head in sympathy. So he had been hiding his sleeping problems again.

'_My Empress, I must continue to bring dreams to mortals. If I may have leave?'_

Robyn blinked in surprise but nodded her head nonetheless. Yume needed permission to leave? Permission from her??? That was a new one on Robyn; she could barely remember a time when she had authority over any one else, if ever!

The young bringer of dreams bowed and then vanished into thin air, leaving Robyn with a sleeping Ryo and an amused she-wolf. Robyn continued to play with Ryo's locks and stared at Shadow as the she-wolf chuckled. The wolf met her gaze and a slight chill ran up Robyn's spine as she realized the reason Shadow was laughing.

"I thought Halo seemed a bit bed-haggled," the she-wolf commented, yawning in the process. Robyn cocked her head to the side before turning to stare back at the wall. Why had he hid it? The last time he had hidden the sleeping problem, bad things had occurred and everything just seemed to get worse!

"What can I do to help him? I don't want this to happen ALL over again!" Robyn whispered fiercely. If it was the same type of creature, she would have gone and kept it at bay in the same manner she had before. But she had no earthly idea what this thing that was keeping him captive was. Her heart sank as Shadow whined in regret.

"I'm sorry, Kitten. I have no notion as to how to free Halo from his ongoing nightmare," the she-wolf explained, standing and stretching in the process. Shadow licked Robyn's free hand in assurance before padding back out to the sunroom, leaving Robyn alone with her thoughts.

She sighed, clenching her eyes shut. How was she supposed to help Sage then?

Heaving another tired sigh, Robyn lifted Ryo's head and escaped the confinements of the couch, placing a light-weight blanket over her friend's sleeping form. He stirred slightly and stretched, staring at her owlishly as she smiled at him. She ruffled his hair and said good-night, grinning as he went back to sleep.

Nice that Mia had finally bought a new couch because now Robyn did not have to feel bad about leaving Ryo to sleep on it.

As she turned to go upstairs, she paused, catching a glimpse of herself in the window. Her reflection had not changed but now she stood with more confidence and regality.

"Hey, ya thinking about me?" a familiar voice teased and Robyn moved her gaze from her reflection-self to the reflection of Rowen that stood slightly behind her. She frowned and promptly grabbed a pillow, thwacking him on the head with it.

"In your dreams Rowen!" she hissed at him, trying to hit the blue-haired youth again.

"Already happened, so I'm now just waitin' on reality."

She glared at him, "Funny, real funny."

He gave her a lazy, arrogant grin as he moved into the kitchen. Robyn followed, arms crossed and watched as he grabbed a glass from a cabinet. An idea popped into her head and she smiled impishly. Rowen had been very kind to not throw any innuendo comments at her lately, which was probably why he and Cody were going at it most of the time, but Robyn would have appreciated him waiting just a _little_ bit longer. So, she would give him a taste of his own medicine…and Yume should be able to help her too.

"Well, I would hope that your _dreams_ of me are clean enough to talk about around little children," came her not so witty remark. Jeez, was she so tired that she couldn't even come up with something remotely witty?

Rowen smirked and spoke in a poor imitation of a Scotsman, "Let's just say that we'd better cover the youngin's ears when talkin' about those dreams."

She glared at him as he filled his glass with water from the tap. _Perfect_, she thought to herself as she began to formulate her little scheme. The tap water would make a perfect cover when he woke in the morning. And who said she wasn't quick-minded anyway?

"Uh, I wouldn't drink that if I were you," she began and was pleased when he raised an eyebrow at her. "You never know what kind of chemicals and stuff could be in the tap water."

"Right…" he said, not convinced at all. She tried to smile as seductively as she could without laughing at the look on Rowen's face. It was a mix of surprise, wariness, curiosity and disbelief.

"Fine, just don't say I didn't warn you Blue Boy. I'm going to bed now, so good night. And I hope that your dreams aren't naughtier than normal." And with that, she sauntered out of the kitchen, past the den and up the stairs to her room, trying so hard not to burst into laughter. The floored look on his face would be worth any revenge he'd evoke on her when he found out she had been behind any dreams he would have tonight.

In the safety of her room, Robyn allowed her soft laughter to fill the room as she did a little victory dance around the open space of the bedroom. Oh she could not wait to see his face in the morning! But now she had to figure out how to summon Yume and ask her to do a favor…

'_Empress,'_ Yume's voice whispered across her mind and Robyn jumped. She turned to see Yume half in and half out of her bedroom wall, like a ghost. Yume stared at her calmly with her storm-grey eyes.

"How—" Robyn began but cut herself off as Rowen passed by her open door. He muttered good-night as he passed, not even bothering to poke his head in or make some other innuendo comment towards her.

'_You wish for my assistance?'_ Yume continued, not the least worried about the bearer of Strata hearing her. Could any one else hear Yume when she spoke besides Robyn, Shadow and possibly Mariko?

"Did you hear the conversation he and I had?" Robyn asked softly.

Yume nodded, smiling and Robyn thought she saw a small spark of childish glee in those grey eyes. Was it possible that not all creatures that hid in the darkness were unkind and evil? Were there more like Yume, kind and compassionate? Robyn smiled as she began to see things in a different light…everything had some sort of balance.

'_How terribly do you wish to torment your companion?'_

"How naughty and how real can you create dreams?"

Yume smiled, '_Well enough, my Empress, well enough. Why take your friend Kami for example, but I believe I have a notion of what you wish. I do create the dreams of mortals after all and have been for centuries.'_

Robyn's eyes grew wide with realization; how did _anyone_ dream dreams without Yume? But if Yume brought dreams, did that include the nightmares as well?

'_Empress?'_ Yume's voice was laced with worry and Robyn presently forgot her little scheme as she looked to Yume for an answer Shadow had not been able to give.

"How do I help Sage?" she asked and Yume's eyes took on a sympathetic sheen.

'_If I knew, my Empress, he would have been free long ago when it first occurred. But my power is almost nothing when compared to the Mother Empress.'_

"But—Yume!" Robyn whispered fiercely as the bringer of dreams melded with wall and disappeared. Clenching her fists, Robyn frowned at the fact she still could do nothing to help her friend.

Her shoulders drooped as she glanced at the clock before pulling back the covers and falling into the bed.

* * *

Mariko stifled a yawn as she trudged out of the bathroom now fully dressed in a pair of black leggings, a red tank top and a baggy black knit over-shirt. Her younger twin claimed it made her look somewhat Goth but to Mariko it was comfy and maneuverable. Unlike the tight pants and top Cody tended to wear, but Mariko had been trained to fight in almost any situation, even with restrictive clothing.

The bearer of Phoenix ran a tired hand through her forest green hair as she entered the den and kitchen area, seeing that Wildfire was now up and moving and off the couch. He had been dead to the world when she awoke early that morning, no thanks to Torrent who had apologized upon seeing that his cooking had woken her up.

She stifled another yawn and looked at the occupants sitting at the table, eating breakfast. Cye was fully dressed as was Kento and Sage, while Ryo was no doubt getting himself ready. Robyn and Strata had yet to awaken and Mariko had no doubt in her mind that Cody would not be joining them anytime soon. Miss Koji, Mariko noted, was primped and ready for the day, looking no worse for wear.

_Lucky stiff_, she thought to herself as she made a mug of hot cocoa for herself. She herself had been a fright when she first woke. Thank Anubis's soul that she had pulled a compact from her sister's bag before emerging from the sunroom; she had no doubt that she would have startled Torrent into dropping a pan or something.

"Morning!" Robyn called as she came into the kitchen, still clothed in her sleepwear, which was an oversized shirt and pajama shorts. Mariko greeted her and was about to take a sip from her mug when a hand came and snatched it out of hers. She blinked and stared at her empty hand for a second before looking at Robyn's sneaky little smile. A few chuckles came from the table as Robyn continued to smile and Mariko continued blink rapidly with a blank look on her face. Finally, the bearer of Phoenix threw Robyn a sour look.

"Yeah sure, take advantage of the one who won't fight back first thing in the morning," she grumbled at the young redhead. Robyn took on an apologetic look, offering the mug back to its rightful owner.

Mariko shrugged and opened the fridge to grab a soda, saying "Go ahead and keep it." She then leaned against the counter and popped the top on her soda, noting the odd looks.

"I need caffeine in the morning. It doesn't matter where it comes from, as long as I get it. Soda usually works best anyways," she explained as Robyn made a plate and joined the others at the table.

"Fine but shouldn't you eat?" Mia questioned and Mariko laughed lightly.

"Eat? You will find that neither my sister nor I eat breakfast. Cody just plain doesn't eat much, the abazureon'na (bitch). I am usually too busy; if anything, I grab a Nutri-Grain as I'm running off to class."

"Do you two always call each other names?" asked Ryo as he appeared, dressed and ready to eat.

Mariko gave him a startled look, "Well, yes, but we never _really_ mean it."

"What could possibly keep you from eating in the morning?" Mia questioned further.

"Let's see, getting up and moving, getting dressed, getting everyone else up and moving, making Matt breakfast, then making our lunches and making sure Matt doesn't run late for school. I'm the mommy of our little group," Mariko replied, making little hand gestures here and there.

"Wow, kinda like Cye with me and Sage with Rowen," Robyn commented, eating her pancakes and bacon. Cye gave his red-haired companion a slightly unappreciative look, as did Sage from where sat eating his own breakfast. She mentally shrugged both looks off.

Mariko shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, why not? I mean I do juggle college, a job, and a fifteen year-old."

Silence reigned for a moment before Mia broke it by saying, "So how did everyone sleep last night?"

The majority replied with a 'fine thank you' but Mariko noted how Halo had been a bit hesitant in answering. He had obviously not done anything about the source of his sleeping problem…or was working on it. She sighed and looked at the young redhead who was soon going to be the center of chaos and mayhem in a few days. Robyn did not deserve this, not now with Graduation coming up. Graduation was supposed to be a happy occasion…

_Let her have these next few days of peace_, Mariko reasoned with herself. _She needs time to get used to things before battle…_

"So, when's Cody going to get up?" Kento asked, curiously looking out at the sunroom. He had recently finished his own breakfast and was very tempted to take Cody's share since it was now known that the bearer of Gaea was most likely not going to eat.

"Two, three, maybe as late as four," Mariko said with a shrug. The looks of surprise made her smile. "But," she drawled, finishing off her soda, "She expressed an interest in going to the mall since she and I have yet to go."

"How do you get her up early in the morning if she sleeps so late?"

"Well, depends on Shadow really. On days that we have class, Shadow takes it upon herself to get Cody up, usually by drooling. Pleasant wake-up call, no? But when all else fails…there is the bucket of ice water!"

Sage chuckled and smiled a knowing smile. "That certainly sounds familiar," he muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Robyn gave him an odd look, "Huh?"

"How did you think I got Rowen up for school in the morning?"

"You dump a bucket off water on him?!"

"No, I pour a glass of water in his mouth."

Robyn threw Sage a confused look, "Isn't his mouth closed?"

"No, he snores…barely."

Robyn laughed at the new information she had gained on her intelligent, yet sometimes annoying friend. He snored???

There was a startling shout from upstairs and everyone's gaze turned to the direction of the stairs with the majority wearing confused looks. Robyn merely laughed, smiling triumphantly as she continued to eat her breakfast. Cye looked at her with a confused, yet suspicious look, as did everyone else.

"Robyn," Cye began, "what did you do to Rowen?"

"Who said I did anything to Blue-Boy?" Robyn asked innocently.

"Where the Hell did that dream come from?!" came Rowen's voice.

"You didn't!" Mariko sputtered as she stared at Robyn in shock. Robyn merely smiled at the bearer of Phoenix. Robyn had not doubted that Mariko would figure it out right away but she still wanted to see how this little prank played out.

Cody stumbled into the kitchen, dressed in a much similar fashion as Robyn, and stared at everyone for a moment. She rubbed her eyes and smothered a yawn before counting the number of occupants in the room.

She frowned; "One of you's is missing," she mumbled, almost as if to herself. "Who woke me up? I really don't appreciate it…"

Mariko chuckled, "I'm surprised you even dragged yourself out of bed, imoto."

Cody stuck her tongue out and then promptly smothered another yawn. "What time is it?" she asked drowsily, moving to lay her head on her elder sister's shoulder.

"A little after nine, why?" Mia answered politely. To everyone's surprise, the bearer of Gaea squawked at the statement and proceeded to whimper into Mariko's shoulder.

"Oh give it a rest! You're not getting any sympathy from me," Mariko quipped as she shrugged her sister's head off of her shoulder.

It was about this time when a certain blue-haired youth entered the room, apprehensively watching Robyn from the corner of his eye. He grabbed himself a plate and began placing pancakes on it, before moving to sit at the table with everyone else.

"Thanks a lot Strata! You woke me up!" Cody said grumpily as the youth took the seat farthest from Robyn. Rowen ignored her and Robyn who was now looking innocently at him.

"So Rowen, how did _you_ sleep last night?" Robyn questioned, still maintaining her innocent look. The youth's fork paused half way to its destination, and Rowen glared at her, his cheeks becoming slightly flushed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he responded calmly, despite the now apparent blush on his face. Robyn stared at Rowen in a considering manner until Rowen broke eye contact and resumed eating his breakfast.

"So you didn't have any weird dreams? Cause I could have sworn that by the way you're watching me, that something is up," probed Robyn.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes.."

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"Not!"

"I am too so just drop it!"

"What are you two talking about? Mariko obviously knows because she just left the room laughing," Ryo questioned, gaining the two arguing youths' attention. Everyone caught a glimpse of Mariko as she turned the corner to the foyer. The remaining eyes then turned to Rowen and Robyn as the former continued to glare at the latter redhead.

"Well?" Kento pressed. Shadow's nails could be heard clattering against the linoleum as the large animal entered, stretching her massive jaw in a yawn. A delicate whine resulted from this and she then licked her muzzle, focusing her eyes on the bearer of Hardrock.

"You really do not wish to know. Besides, dreams are to be private. If one wishes to share it then he or she may, but no one should be forced to," the large canine stated, snatching a newly found pancake that Cody had so graciously thrown on the floor for her. Rowen angrily denied having any dreams the previous night and, angrily, finished his breakfast. Shadow ignored his denial as she gobbled the pancake rather quickly and then looked at Robyn.

"And Kitten," she began in a scolding tone, "ordering Yume to do such a thing on a whim, so to speak, is not very mature nor responsible. I would hope that you would refrain from such actions in the future. She has a purpose and it is not to serve up any sort of dream you wish her to. Is that understood?"

Throughout Shadow's scolding, Robyn had ever so slowly slouched down in her chair in silent shame. She had never expected Shadow to reprimand her like that _and_ in front of everyone else. So much for the hope of Shadow being a 'non-scolding' mother figure.

"Yes ma'am," she muttered as Shadow came up next to her. Robyn's mood, however, quickly changed from shameful to annoyance as she yelled at Shadow for stealing her slices of bacon off her plate.

"Those were mine!" she protested as she shoved the she-wolf's head, or tried to at least, away from the remains of her breakfast. "Go find—stop! Go find your own! Hey! Shadow!"

The she-wolf shook her head and promptly turned to Cody, expectantly looking from her to the floor and back again.

Cody rolled her eyes; "Oh, so _now_ you've decided to act like your species and not talk. Fine, here," she said in a near sarcastic tone and threw another pancake to the floor, which was immediately pounced on.

Robyn turned her attention back to Rowen who seemed to still be in a grumpy mood. She gave him a sympathetic look, saying in a patronizing tone "I'm sorry, Rowen. I promise I won't let you drink the tap water before going to bed ever again."

Without saying a word, and with amazing self-control on his part, Rowen stood, left his empty plate on the table and headed out of the kitchen. Rowen did speak, however, when Kento asked where he was going and he explained that he was going to go get dressed.

"Oh, you might want to consider a cold shower too!" Robyn threw over shoulder as she ate the last of her breakfast. Unbeknownst to her, Rowen had grabbed a pillow and chucked at her in small fit of anger. Kento, who had gotten up to put his dirty dishes into the sink only moments before, was now moving to grab the pillow before it beamed his red-haired friend in the back of the head.

"Robyn, you may want to duck," was all Sage had calmly said before Robyn's chaired clattered to the floor and the pillow flew back in Rowen's direction, falling harmlessly not two feet away from him.

Silence filled the entire room and all eyes were on Robyn's surprised face. She stared at her open hand, then at the pillow, and finally drifted her gaze up at Rowen. He was as surprised as she was and she saw worry lining his surprise as well. She couldn't blame him, but she was thankful that there wasn't any fear there, just sincere concern. But she well knew that this was just going to be something else to add to that damned list of 'Things the Guys Need To Worry About."

"Robyn, how did you do that?" Ryo asked softly as the young redhead lowered her outstretched arm. With surprising speed, she had stood and turned to face the oncoming pillow, knocking her chair down in the process, and had thrown her arm towards the pillow that had been coming at her. The pillow had then went propelling back in Rowen's direction, landing harmlessly in front of him.

"I—I don't know," she whispered back just as quietly. Oh how she wished that stupid list would disappear and the guys not worry about anything else; better yet, she wished everything would just go back to normal. She glanced at Shadow, whom had whined in sympathy from where the large she-wolf had seated herself on the floor next to Cody.

"Don't worry about it too much, Ojou-san. It happened to me nearly everyday. It's just a self-defense mechanism," Mariko's calm voice filtered into the room.

Rowen turned to look at Mariko who had seemed to come stand behind him, but stumbled backwards when he saw that the bearer of Phoenix wasn't standing but _floating_. Without her armor, let alone sub-armor. Rowen had to be in full battle armor in order to copy what the young woman was doing right now.

"What the—" he began but she promptly cut him off.

"My armor has some neat little quirks and this is one of them. I can float, or fly, without my sub-armor. Cody can travel through the earth's crust without her sub-armor."

"Yeah, but I prefer my sub-armor when I do that. It hurts like a bitch if I don't! And the bruises last for weeks too," Cody complained, crossing her armors and leaning against a countertop.

"You said this also happened to you? When? What happened?" Robyn questioned, looking at Mariko in confusion. Since when had Mariko gone what she was going through now? How could she possibly understand what she was going through? She did not have the guys risking their lives for her again and again…That Robyn acknowledged as the most painful part of everything. The risking their lives for her again and again…

Mariko had become extremely solemn as she gently placed both her feet on the kitchen floor with a torn but guarded expression on her face. She stared at the floor for a time, as if weighing her options before looking up at everyone and taking a deep breath.

"That is a tale that only you will be told to in private," the eldest twin said softly, focusing her ice blue gaze on Robyn. "But believe me when I say that it will become easier and nearly natural."

Robyn nodded her head slowly in slight understanding. To talk about something even remotely similar to what she had gone through would be hard for anyone. Robyn still had not mentioned anything about that ritual, or whatever it was Dragon had done, to the guys. She didn't want too. That would only be added to that damned list…and list was long enough.

"Hey, you know it's supposed to be a really nice day. How about you all just go and do something to take your minds off of everything?" suggested Cody when she found she could no longer stand the silence. "Oh and Walking Translator, weren't you about to go do something? Like a cold shower?"

Rowen rolled his eyes at Cody before throwing a glare at her. Well, Cody had obviously put the pieces together rather quickly. "That's none of your business now is it Witch Doctor?" he asked in a slightly snobbish manner.

Cody shrugged her shoulders but looked at Shadow with a start as the large wolf shot up suddenly, skidded across the linoleum to the sunroom and backyard. Blinking several times, she calmly disregarded the sudden change in Shadow's urgency. "Well, I guess she really had to go," she joked, looking at Robyn's curious expression.

"No imoto-san, it's something else," Mariko stated, narrowing her eyes. "There's something out there…but I'm not sure just yet." Cody paused and looked out the window narrowing her eyes in concentration as a mud brown aura surrounded her.

Tension filled the room as everyone waited to find out if another battle would be needed so soon after the last one. Mariko finally sighed in exasperation and looked at her younger sister, who in turn gave her a bright smile. The younger twin's brown aura had faded away, a clear indication that whatever had thrown her into caution had passed.

"It's nothing; we're safe. But I swear Cody-chan! If Shadow kills another kirin, your pet or not I'm gonna smack that mutt!" Mariko announced quite agitatedly.

"What's a kirin?" Robyn asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Ancient Chinese creature that had the head of a lion, body of a deer and—I think that was it," Kento explained, putting his arms behind his head, seeming the least bit worried. "I'm a bit rusty on those stories so I'm not really sure, but I think they were used as messengers, weren't they? And they're harmless too."

Mariko nodded approvingly. "Very good Hardrock. Perhaps your head isn't as hard as your armor," she teased, smiling at the crooked grin on Kento's face.

"Ya know, I could make a comparison between you and your armor, but I'd probably get smacked for it, so I won't. Besides, what's a kirin doing here anyway? I thought they were just mythical creatures?"

Mariko looked at him in disbelief, "After everything that has happened so far and the fact that you all of mystical armors, you still don't believe that not everything is just a myth?"

Both Robyn and Sage had taken their dishes to the sink when Shadow returned, sliding into an unsuspecting Robyn on the linoleum when the she-wolf realized a bit too late that she could not stop nor slow down. Luckily, Robyn had deposited her dishes already and had nothing breakable in her hands but with the speed at which Shadow had been traveling added to the she-wolf's size, Robyn was most definitely thrown off balance. So the young redhead now found herself falling backwards into Sage with her arms pin-wheeling in a futile attempt to regain her balance.

Robyn crashed into Sage but fortunately the bearer of Halo had already deposited his plates in the sink and had seen her loss of balance and inevitable fall coming. Sage grabbed her as she crashed into him, her body pressed against his for a moment before she steadied herself and apologized. He stared at her in faint surprise as he noticed her cheeks turning a slight pink in color and tried to recall a time she had ever blushed. None came to mind. Was she embarrassed from the fall she couldn't have prevented? It would not have been the first time she had tripped and one them had caught her, but she had never displayed this kind of reaction then as she did now. Before, she had just laughed it off.

Was it because she believed she had offended him this time? Sage quickly threw that idea out. She had done or mentioned things that she knew would offend him slightly. So what was it? He smiled slightly as she turned on Shadow and covered her embarrassment with anger…not that any of the others would know the difference or had there even been a difference.

Sage left kitchen quickly and quietly, not wanting become center attention or to have the incident brought up again in his presence. So he moved to the den where he could still hear what was going on and what was being discussed without having any questions directed at him. Out of sight, out of mind. Too bad the image of Robyn's blush wouldn't leave his mind at the moment. Sighing soundlessly, Sage decided that Robyn was, for a lack of better words, cute when she blushed…

"Jeez! Watch where you're going!" Robyn admonished the large black wolf.

Shadow folded her ears down in apology before moving to stand behind Mariko. Mariko raised an eyebrow at the unusual behavior Shadow was displaying. Shadow always took refuge behind Cody before her. Perhaps the message the kirin had delivered had been directed towards herself and Shadow just felt like receiving sympathy for her miscalculations? Who knew? Shadow could be as unpredictable as fate.

"All right, what's up canine? What did our spy, the Raven have to say to us this time? Or did you lose the kirin that Karasu sent?" Mariko questioned while at the same time gently insulting the animal.

"Well, actually Mariko-san, you should find this quite interesting. Karasu has said that there will not be any attempt to recapture Robyn for at least another week! Apparently, it will take Dragon that long to recover from the attack last night. You all can basically go and have fun for a few days before we really need to get serious and come up with a plan," the she-wolf announced. "Now if you all will excuse me, I am going to go relax myself."

And with that, the Shadow trotted out of the kitchen and house to do her own thing.

Robyn watched Shadow leave before turning to look at the guys. "So what do you all want to do now?" She was willing to do anything to get their minds off of what was going on. Anything to keep them from worrying about her.

Most of them shrugged and Rowen went back upstairs to get ready for the day. Mariko said she had no preference while Cody muttered something about time difference and Rowen with his stupid dream for waking her up. Cody promptly disappeared into the sunroom.

Robyn smiled; she was beginning to like being around the twins and Shadow. It was a nice change from being surround by guys all the time and no real outlet for feminine frustration and she definitely would need some female support later, especially if Mariko had gone through something very similar to her. So taking a deep breath, Robyn moved to go upstairs and get herself ready for the day too. After all, Shadow had just said that nothing would happen for the next few days and that knowledge was certainly uplifting for her.

But she paused halfway up the stairs as a sudden thought occurred to her. What if Karasu was lying? Or worse yet, what if Dragon wasn't telling Karasu everything and it turned out that Dragon still had one card up his sleeve that the young Chinese man did not know about?


	14. Many Smiles and Many Laughs to All

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Thirteen: Many Smiles and Many Laughs to All

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

Put a smile on your face

Make the world a better place

Put a smile on your face

[watcha gonna do watcha gonna do]

_**Vitamin C, "Smile"**_

* * *

Robyn crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as Kento and Rowen argued over what movie to see, Cye and Ryo throwing in comments about a movie here and there, Sage calmly watching the 'discussion' with a raised eyebrow, Cody smiling in amusement and Mariko brooding over her work no doubt. Both Cody and herself had insisted, well, more like pestered, Mariko to come with them to the movies and afterwards the mall. To Robyn it seemed extremely hypocritical of Mariko to suggest a free day to everyone and then go stare at her laptop for hours on end going over information; furthermore, Robyn was not about to let Mariko be hypocritical.

But beside that, Robyn secretly wanted the female companionship of both twins. While she loved the time and company of the others…it just wasn't the same. Not only that, but Cody could 'protect' her from any comments Rowen happened to throw at her, and Mariko's humor would counteract any arguments; that is if Mariko would discontinue worrying about her work.

"Does anyone care to know what _I_ would like to see?" Robyn asked in an exasperated tone, catching the attention of the arguing group.

"Oh please, grace us with the knowledge of what you want to see," Rowen quipped in a sarcastic manner.

The young redhead's face brightened immediately as she exclaimed, "Lilo and Stitch!"

Rowen gave her an odd look, "A Disney movie?"

Robyn nodded her head rapidly, "Yep! The alien is so cute!"

"How about no."

Her face fell slightly, "Why not?"

"I am not going to see a kid's movie."

Cody coughed and muttered under breath, "Says he who has every Disney movie under his bed…"

Rowen turned and glared at the younger twin. "What was that Witch-Doctor?" he shouted at an unsurprised Cody. She smiled sweetly at him as he waited for her to answer.

"You just seem like a Disney-loving kind of guy," she replied contritely, despite the satisfied smirk on her face.

"I what?"

"You do!"

Rowen stared at the youngest twin in something akin to mortification. Mariko chuckled, now taking interest in the situation, before she cleared her throat and suggesting that perhaps Robyn could think of another movie to see. Robyn thought for a moment and then smiled in triumph.

"That new MIB movie!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm. "It supposed to be just as funny as the first one."

No one argued with her suggestion and so the decision was made to see the second Men In Black movie.

---

It was mid-afternoon and having finished the movie not long ago, the group of eight wandered leisurely around the mall. They were currently in a Natural Wonders store where many members of the group were playing with the toys. Mariko, Cody and Robyn were entertaining themselves with ribbon wands while Cye was looking through some Sea Life material and objects, with Kento and Ryo playing with some yo-yos; Rowen was off somewhere else in the store, which left Sage to himself.

Sage merely watched the minor mayhem in a practiced patience and slight amusement. He allowed his gaze to wander over the store and his friends, lingering a bit longer on Robyn as she twirled the ribbon wand in pure delight. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he watched Robyn struggle to untangle her now tangled ribbon, a small, childish frown expressed upon her delicate features. She could act like a true child, finding amusement in the simplest of things, and yet, at the same time she took all of life's cruelty by the hand with a calmness and bravery even he envied.

Robyn, having now lost interest in her tangled ribbon wand, moved to look at the stuffed animals, squealing softly in glee as she hugged a cheetah doll. She turned and bounded towards Cye, stopping in front of him with a pleading look.

Cye looked at her pleading face, and then at the cheetah doll she had glomped in her arms before shaking his head. "No, I'm not buying it," he refused, ignoring the pout that appeared on her face.

"Aw, but Cye-kun, this is as close to a cat as I'm going to get!" she whined, glomping the doll harder.

"Which is exactly why you can get it yourself."

Any protest Robyn was going to make was forgotten momentarily as a shirt was placed in front of her. She frowned, not being able to read the writing upside down. Everyone began to laugh upon reading the phrase on the shirt and Robyn huffed in annoyance.

"What? What's it say?" she asked, attempting to read the writing and failing again.

"It suits you!" Rowen announced from behind her and Robyn realized that it was he who was holding the shirt.

"Rowen! What does it say!" she growled, futilely trying to read the shirt once more.

"-Be Patient: I'm Still Evolving-" Cody read aloud in between bouts of laughter.

Robyn frowned, her expression relaying that she did not find it AS funny as everyone else; therefore, she promptly turned and whacked the blue-haired youth on the head with the cheetah doll, disregarding his protests of being mistreated. Robyn again whacked Rowen on the head, just for good measure she assured him when he asked why he was getting hit for not doing anything wrong.

Having decided NOT to get the stuffed animal, Robyn lingered behind the others as they made their way to leave the store. She paused upon seeing an opportunity for payback. She picked up the purple astronomy shirt and cleared her throat, calling out, "Hey Rowen! This is perfect for you! It's got all of you star and spacey stuff AND it's purple! Only _**special**_ guys can wear purple!"

That comment earned her a few chuckles as Rowen, not about to be beat at his own game, coolly walked over to her and took the shirt. He looked at it in a considering manner before holding it up to him and proudly agreeing with her. Robyn bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing aloud, but at the same time staring at him disbelief as he bought the shirt.

"What?" he asked her, "I don't see the big deal. You're the one who has reiterated the fact that you're a lesbian."

Robyn rolled her eyes, "Yeah and that's why I've turned down every come-on you've made when we're alone."

Attention was suddenly drawn to Sage as he seemed to choke down a laugh.

"What's the matter Sage? If you're laughing about that –night— then why don't you say so?" Rowen baited, wondering if any of the others would catch the way he had stressed 'night.'

"So you two **are** gay," Cody concluded with a smirk.

"Actually we're talking about a gay dinner we had," Robyn informed the younger twin, then clamped a hand over her mouth, muttering 'Oops.'

"Gay?" Ryo questioned.

"Gay as in happy!" Robyn protested loudly.

"Man, my best buds and I didn't even know," Kento teased, smiling as Sage turned and glared at him.

"None of us are gay, Kento," the bearer of Halo said with such finality that none dared comment or contradict him, save for one.

Mariko grinned evilly upon seeing an opening and Cody muttered a small prayer of protection for her elder sister.

"Oh really. So how would you know? Has Robyn proved differently to you on an intimate level?" the elder twin goaded, not allowing herself to be intimidated by the death-glare that was shot in her direction. Robyn squeaked in response to the suggestion Mariko had just made but no one else dared to gain Sage's attention as he and Mariko glared/stared at each other. Finally, Sage turned and left the store.

As soon as he was out of earshot range, Cody commented, "I guess that means no threesome for you all tonight."

Rowen smiled a Cheshire grin as they all left the store. "You know Cody, we could always make it a foursome. You in?" he offered in a joking manner, raising an eyebrow in expectance of an answer.

Cody took the offer into deep consideration and Robyn anxiously awaited her answer for she sensed that Cody was about to land a blow that was sure to shut Rowen up for at least ten minutes straight. Cody smiled sadly and shook her head, tsking at the thought of her joining to create a foursome.

"Sorry," she began, shoving her hands into her jean skirt pockets, "but if I did join you guys, you all wouldn't last very long, not even ten minutes," she paused and glanced at Rowen, shrugging her shoulders, "or at least _**you**_ wouldn't."

Robyn smiled in delight as Rowen was stunned into silence, a smile stain of color spreading across his face. Robyn patted his shoulder, continuing to smile at his bruised ego.

"Does anyone know where Sage went?" Ryo asked, attempting to change the subject. They all glanced around them but found no trace of their blond friend.

"I guess I really ticked him off," Mariko brooded quietly, but then smiled. "That was fun. I'm gonna do it again!"

They all watched in disbelief as the bearer of Phoenix bounded off into the small crowd of shoppers.

Cye shook his head and looked at Cody, "You're sister is crazy."

Cody nodded in agreement. "I know…" she sighed in exasperation, "actually, she just enjoys flaunting Death."

"Yeah but the only way to piss Sage off even more is if she—" Kento trailed off an enraged voice echoed throughout the mall.

"_**Leave me alone!"**_ and Robyn realized that the voice sounded very much like Sage's.

Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline, "There is no way that _that_ was—"

"Yep, it was."

"But…I can't believe—"

"Believe it love," Cye said, shaking his head.

Mariko appeared suddenly and dodged behind Cody, an evil grin present on her face. She peeked over her younger sister's shoulder and sighed, placing her head on Cody's shoulder. Cody gave her sister a raspberry before declaring her an idiot.

"What did you _**do**_ to him?" Robyn asked incredulously.

Mariko beamed, "What is the one thing blondie can't stand to have happen?"

"You messed up his hair?!"

Mariko nodded, "He's in the bathroom now…I think."

"You are cruel!" Cody laughed, shoving her sister's head off her shoulder. Mariko just shrugged her shoulders and smirked.

"Nah, I just like to annoy the blond one," she said, smiling in triumph.

"Really? What happened to you just annoying me?" an unfamiliar male voice questioned, or at least unfamiliar to the majority of the group.

The voice belonged to a young man in his early twenties who had dark brown, spiky hair that barely fell into his pristine blue eyes. He was medium built and accompanied by another young man in his mid-twenties who had very much the same build and appearance, only he had sandy-blond hair instead of brown.

"Jon!" both Mariko and Cody squealed, rushing to greet him. He warmly hugged each girl and causally draped an arm around them, eyeing the rest of the group.

"They look familiar," he announced, seeming somewhat clueless as to where he'd seen them.

Mariko rolled her eyes, "I didn't think you'd taken time to notice we were there, what with you hangin' all over your date and all last night."

"Don't get me started on the fact that he's my significant other!" the young man, Jon, quipped at Mariko.

She merely frowned and crossed her arms, turning her head away defiantly, "Hey, I agreed not to do anything about the two of you being together, but I still don't approve of him."

Cody, meanwhile, had been slowly moving her arm to poke Jon in the side and had just barely succeeded when the latter asked to be introduced to the rest of the group. Snapping her fingers, she poked him anyway and was rewarded with a squawk from the young man as he desperately shied out of harm's way, which meant he moved to the other side of Mariko.

"This is Jon," Mariko introduced, pointedly ignoring her sister and friend's antics. "He works at that club we went to last night, but is clueless to everything that's going on. He also is studying to become a choir teacher with a major in music, obviously."

Robyn had noticed the guys tense up when Mariko had mentioned the young man's job at the club and she groaned inwardly. Perhaps she could show them that not _everyone_ was out to get her.

"Hi, I'm Robyn," she said, extending her hand to Jon. "It's nice to meet you."

Jon shook her hand and greeted the others politely, but quickly turned his attention to his companion who had tried to make himself into a wallflower.

"This is Jayzen. He just moved to the area and is finishing up college here. He's an English and music major."

The young man introduced as Jayzen, politely shook each of the guys' hand in greeting, before respectfully kissing the back of each of the ladies'. Cody made the smart-ass remark of how Jayzen was a true gentleman. Robyn however, was very much drawn to the young man's features and keenly interested in the fact that his majors were the same as what she wanted to major in.

"English and music? Maybe you could give me some tips on what to take in college next year," Robyn said, smiling as he agreed. She was not just happy now, she was _extremely_ happy. She had an exceptionally attractive guy agreeing to help her with college applications and he was interested in the same fields of study as she was. Could her luck get any better?

Robyn felt that nothing could bring her good mood down now and so she smiled, barely noticing that Sage had mysteriously joined them again. Today, she decided, still smiling, was a good day. And because of this, she hardly noticed the hard look Sage was giving Jayzen, nor did she notice the pairs of gold and red eyes watching her intently form the other side of the mall.

* * *

"You should inform them of the new armor-bearer," the owner of the red eyes said softly, watching the young redhead and her friends carefully.

"Why don't you?" the companion of the other person asked.

"Because, I will be busy training the boy. He needs a female figurehead at the moment, not a male."

"And just how would you know this? See it in a cloud of smoke?"

The pair of red eyes narrowed in annoyance, "You would not joke so if it was Gaea or Phoenix doing the readings." This silenced the companion. "He has just left his mother, whom he loved and cared for deeply. His father was…abusive."

The companion nodded in understanding, "I'll mention the boy to Mariko."

"Good, thank you. Now, do you have any idea who the young man is?"

"That's Jon, a friend of Mariko and Cody's."

"And his companion?"

"Not a clue."

"I see. Keep an eye on him. I do not like the aura he is radiating. It has the slightest tinge of Dark magic; normally I would not care, but with the Empress in his company, I do not wish to take chances."

"My, my, my, protective aren't we?"

"Can you blame me? Totoyami must not be allowed to reign! All will be lost if we lose the Empress!"

"I'm growing tired of you knowing things that my comrades and I do not. If they involve Robyn, we have a right to know."

"I cannot change what the stars have written, but I am allowed to help. And that is why I will be spending my time training the boy. You will need his help in the upcoming battle of the Empress and the Emperor. Now, I need that orb. You know the plan; no mistakes, understood?"

The companion nodded, "Yes, I understand."

"Thank you, Joshua. May the Ancients watch over your journey and may they bless the Dark Mother Empress."

Joshua nodded as he watched the fellow soul-gaki leave the mall, her blonde hair cascading down her beautiful shoulders and blood red eyes now concealed behind a pair of sunglasses. Silence fell over him for a long moment as he leaned against the railing of the balcony, watching Robyn casually.

_Yes, let us pray that the Ancient Ones bless and watch over Robyn,_ he thought as he played out the plan inside his mind. _Ancient Ones, please let no foul-up occur._

---

The sensation of being watched flooded over Sage's senses as he followed silently behind the others. Turning his head in the direction of the inkling, he caught a glimpse of a strange shadow following at a distance but it quickly disappeared as he concentrated his gaze on it. His attention was then drawn to a young man who had been following them as well. He then recognized the man as Joshua, the soul-gaki who was quite familiar with Mariko. He frowned when Joshua motioned to Mariko, obviously wanting to speak to the bearer of Phoenix but at the same time not wanting to gain attention. He was not keen on the idea of going anywhere near Mariko again, not after what she had done to him, but he surmised from the expression on Joshua's face, that it was important. He nodded reluctantly, knowing that it might help in keeping Robyn safe and her safety was most important.

Sage came in step with Mariko and cleared his throat to gain her attention. When he had it, he whispered to her, "Better see what your friend has found out." She gave him a confounded look and then made an excuse to go off by herself, much to Cody's annoyance. The younger twin could tell that something was up and was not pleased at being left out because she then confronted Sage, demanding that he tell her what was going on. Sage merely looked at her impassively and said that Joshua needed to speak with Mariko in private.

At this Cody then turned her annoyance towards Mariko when the latter returned to the group. The twins then began to speak in hushed tones, ignored by the rest of the group as they all milled around the mall. The two new additions to the group left soon after Mariko returned, Jon saying that he'd call Mariko to set up a paper revision and practice (for what he did not know) and Jayzen said that he would speak with Robyn soon and would look forward to it.

This would not have bothered Sage, if it were not for the fact that Robyn was acting shy and blushing. When was she ever shy around a guy? And when did she ever blush? The only time he had seen her blush was earlier that morning when he had held her to keep her from falling. Without realizing it, Sage had glared at Jayzen when the latter had left and the others had said good-bye. Mariko came to stand next to him, also watching the young man leave, but did not show any sign of his surprise by her sudden appearance.

"You sense something about him, right?" she whispered in question.

His eyes narrowed further, now stretching his senses out more than he had earlier, searching for Jayzen's aura. He'd had no reason to sense the young man's aura beforehand but Mariko's question caused him to worry. He was not happy by the type of aura he found, but it was possible that he'd had a rough childhood or some tragic life-changing event to make his aura feel that way.

Deciding not to dwell on the aura issue, he changed the subject. "So what did—" he began but found himself cut off by Mariko.

"You'll find out when I tell the others."

"When are you going to tell them about the prophecy?"

"It's just a poem."

"Don't try fooling yourself. You and I both know that you're not stupid enough to believe that it's _just_ a poem."

"It's one of three. I want to decipher the other two before I say anything."

"That's a stupid excuse, you know."

"Yeah, but it's _my_ stupid excuse, so shove it, blondie," she hissed in a dangerous tone. Sage ignored the warning in her tone and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"If you don't tell them, I will," he threatened. Mariko gave him a sour look and he gave her an indifferent one.

"Why? What does it matter to you if Robyn does or doesn't know. It's too late now, she has the seedling and there is no way of getting rid of it. Even if she were to try and kill herself she wouldn't die. The seedling has a self-protection spell that won't allow it." She paused and watched him for a moment. "You were jealous earlier."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I thought you were glaring at him because you had sensed his aura but…never mind."

Sage watched Robyn for a moment before mentioning the shadow he had seen earlier. Mariko took on a thoughtful look and began to examine their surroundings intently, mainly the shadows was his guess. He looked at her when she suddenly sighed, waiting outside a music store that they had stopped at, looking at her expectantly.

"It's a shadow-elf, no worries…I think. It's aura feels slightly familiar," she explained. "Probably just wanted to see Robyn with its own eyes. She's quite popular with the other realms now. I heard that Yume came to see her last night and it's something if Yume comes to see you."

"Yume?" Sage asked doubtfully. He was now starting to wonder about Mariko's state of mind.

"Don't even give me that look. Shadow will vouch for the existence of Yume, but I wouldn't advise asking Robyn about it. She now has powers she had never thought possible. Her senses are already on overdrive, this morning is a perfect example. Her body sensed a threat and she reacted without thinking. I think she might have a bit of a hard time getting used to everything."

"But you're going to help her through it, right? That's what you had told her this morning," Sage pressed, wanting to satisfy a sudden worry. If Robyn had trouble coming and not telling them what was going on in Tokyo, then she would no doubt have trouble talking to them about what she was _now_ going through. But she would _have_ to talk to someone about it, and he'd rather it Mariko than Shadow. He could handle speaking with Mariko more than he could with Shadow. Shadow had a tendency to give him warning looks.

"Yes, of course I will. What did you think? That I wouldn't?" she asked him in an exasperated tone. He suddenly felt slightly embarrassed at his distrust but did not show it. Mariko had been helping Robyn from the beginning, so how could he think such a thing?

_Because you're worried about her,_ said a little voice inside his head. _You're worried that dream will come true. That's why you're worried about her…_

Sage ignored anything else the voice had to say, for Matt had suddenly shown up and was speaking to Robyn in hushed tones. He seemed excited about something and quite animated in his explanation to Robyn. Robyn, however, seemed just as excited and nodded her head to something Matt said. Matt suddenly whooped for joy, thanked her and ran off. It was then that Sage noticed that Matt looked about nineteen instead of twenty-eight or fifteen. He turned his attention to Robyn as Kento asked what the whole conversation was about. Robyn merely smiled secretively, saying that it was none of their business.

Sage frowned; if it pertained to her safety it was most _certainly_ their business. But he did not say a word for it seemed that they were being watched again. From where, he couldn't tell, but it did not feel like a threatening presence so he left it be. Mariko's shake of the head also told him that the presence was not a danger, but Sage maintained constant vigilance for the rest of the day since none of the others seemed to notice the different presence that followed them around the mall.


	15. Can You Teach Me

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Fourteen: Can You Teach Me…

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_Can you teach me how fly? (Come on!)_

_You can see I'm scared to die! (Come on!)_

_And I've only just begun to learn to crawl…_

_Can you teach me how to fight? (Come on!)_

_Would you keep me up all night? (Come on!)_

_Will you be there on the ground if I should fall,_

_fall for you…_

**Black Lab, "Learn to Crawl"**

**

* * *

  
**

Robyn ignored the unusual scowl on Cye's face as she ate her lunch outside with the others. He had been unhappy for the past couple of days and naturally, it was because of her. Or at least her decision. He was not pleased with the idea of her spending so much time with a stranger but, as she pointed out, all friends were strangers at one time. He was still unhappy, as were Ryo, Rowen and Kento. Robyn had yet to see any indication that Sage disagreed since he was continuing to be his indifferent self.

"You know, your face can freeze like that," a female voice said, causing all of them to look up. Standing a few feet away from their picnic table was Mariko, a lop-sided grin on her face and a 'Visitor's Pass' sticker on the front of her sleeveless burgundy turtleneck. Her bracelets wrapped around her wrists and hands like always and she wore a khaki skirt that ended at mid-thigh. A black messenger bag was slung over one shoulder and a pair of sunglasses was perched on the top of her head.

Robyn raised an eyebrow at her attire and asked, "Why are you all decked out?"

Mariko laughed, "You haven't even seen me decked out." She moved to stand next to the table before adding, "I just got off work and stopped by before I went home to change."

"And you stopped by because?" Kento asked, resuming to the task of finishing his lunch before she had even begun to answer.

"I just needed to ask you, Robyn, if you had plans tonight and forgot to tell me."

Robyn paused in her actions, which meant her sandwich was halfway to her mouth. The expression on her face was that of a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Um…why?"

"Because Mia called and informed me that Jayzen had left a message saying that he would be by to pick you up around seven. Now I know that you did not forget that I was to help you study for your Ancient Japanese History exam, so that left me to wonder, why did Jayzen call in the first place?"

"He got confused?"

Mariko was not convinced, "Uh-huh."

"Okay! I forgot! I meant to tell you but forgot! I'm sorry! Sheesh!"

"That's all I needed to know. Now the next question is, which date are you going to cancel?"

"His?"

Mariko gave her a startled look, "Why do you say it as if it's a question? Either you'll cancel his or ours, it's _your_ decision, not mine."

"No, it'll be his. The exam's more important than applications," Robyn said, taking a bite of her sandwich. She watched as Mariko dug something out of her messenger bag and gave the woman an apprehensive look as Mariko pulled out a cell-phone.

"Catch," was the only warning she gave Robyn before she tossed the cell-phone to Robyn. With hardly any warning beforehand, Robyn completely missed the phone and instinctively cringed when she realized that the phone would no doubt break now. But the phone never smashed against the surface of the picnic table because someone had caught it. Robyn looked to see who had saved the expensive contraption and found Sage handing the phone to her.

Sheepishly, she thanked him and took the phone. Robyn then looked at the phone before looking at Mariko with a confused look. "Am I supposed to call him?"

Mariko rolled her eyes, "No, I just wanted to see if you could break my phone by not catching it. Jayzen's number is on speed-dial, I had Jon put it in for me, seeing that the two of you were getting pretty cozy."

Robyn's cheeks went red at the implication. "We are NOT getting cozy," she huffed, dialing Jayzen's number and waiting for an answer.

"Sure, and I'm Vanessa Mae," Mariko said sarcastically. Robyn stuck out her tongue but promptly ignored Mariko and everyone else when someone or something picked up on the other end.

"Vanessa who?" Ryo asked, referring to the name Mariko had called herself.

The young woman rolled her eyes, ignoring Robyn's comments completely, and sighed in exasperation. "Vanessa Mae, extremely talented girl, famous violinist at the age of fourteen, now she's probably seventeen or eighteen, I'm not sure really. Vivaldi's Four Seasons was her first album? Also well known for turning the Devil's Sonata into a modified ringer on a cell-phone?"

"Never heard of her," Kento said between mouthfuls. Ryo nodded in agreement.

"Classical music is lost on them, Mariko," Sage chided, finishing his lunch. Mariko shrugged her shoulders and patiently waited for Robyn to finish using her cell-phone.

The young redhead finished and tossed the phone back to Mariko, saying that Jayzen was not home but left a message on his machine.

"So then, six was what we had talked about. Does that still work?" Mariko asked, returning her cell-phone to her black messenger bag. Robyn nodded but then grimaced as she remembered something else.

"I just remembered, Matt wants me to be at his practice tonight. It starts at eight," she said somewhat slowly, praying that the others would not ask why. Her prayer was unanswered because Rowen and Kento gave her an assessing look.

"What kind of practice?" Kento asked, mainly out of curiosity.

Robyn sighed in frustration, "Do I have to tell you guys everything that goes on in my life? Last time I checked, the answer was no, and I'm pretty sure it still is." With that, she took one last bite of her sandwich, stood up and left the table, heading towards the school building.

"Where are you going?" Rowen called as they all watched her leave with surprised expressions on their face, even Sage's face portrayed mild surprise. When Robyn did not reply, Cye stood up, preparing to go after her and make sure she was all right. But Mariko shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"I think you guys had better back off on her a little. She seems to be feeling a bit cramped. You're all being just a little bit too protective of her," she suggested.

"Can you blame us?" Cye asked and Mariko shook her head.

"No, I don't," she said as she brushed some hair out of her eyes. "but I've noticed that you all have been trying to keep a tight rein on where she goes and who she's with. You can't do that forever. I mean, Talpa tried to control me and that never worked, well, not _really_ worked."

"Yeah, but you _are_ going to tell us why she's going to Matt's practice right?" Kento prodded.

Mariko frowned at him, "After what I just said, you expect me to tell you?"

"Well…yeah," nodded Kento and the rest of them looked at her curiously.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before answering no. Upon hearing the finality in her voice, they finished their lunches in a slightly defeated manner. Mariko turned and watched the other students who were outside and began to wonder what it would be like to have been a normal child. It was not the first time she had wondered, but it was the first time that the abnormality of her childhood truly sank in. And it left her feeling slightly isolated.

Turning her thoughts away from an unchangeable past, Mariko looked back at the others as some of them stood to throw away their trash. They were so young and yet seemed to possess wisdom beyond their years, much like her. She was not more than a year or so older than them. They all had to grow up so quickly and experience events that no one should ever have to experience.

"Is there something else on your mind?" Cye asked her, breaking Mariko out of her thoughts. She stared at them with a grave look in her eyes before reluctantly nodding her head.

"Hai, there is, but we'll discuss it later," she said, turning to leave but stopped when Ryo questioned her.

"Like what?" he asked, furrowing his brows slightly. He took another bite of his sandwich while he waited for the young woman to answer his question.

Mariko smiled and laughed; "You all worry too much, you know that?" she teased lightly. "Come on, live a little! Life is too precious to waste…I learned that the hard way with Julien…" her voice fell to a hush as she spoke the last part, her eyes becoming slightly glassy with a faraway look in them. She quickly shook herself out of it though, readjusting her messenger bag as she prepared to leave. She paused and then spoke with a curious look on her face. "Oh, and just out of curiosity but has Robyn ever been…bitchy to any of you?"

At the sight of their affronted looks, Mariko laughed out loud as she turned to leave, saying "Man, are you all in for a joy ride."

* * *

Sage hurried to his creative writing class with the intent of speaking to Robyn about Jayzen. He was fairly sure that the reason she was not taking the others seriously was because they almost always worried about her a bit more than needed. However, if _he_ spoke to her about it then perhaps she would at least _consider_ reducing her time with Jayzen. There was just something about the guy that unnerved him when he was with Robyn, and what frustrated Sage even more was that he could not figure out why it bothered him so much. So what if she was starting to get to know the guy as well as she did the five of them? So what that she was spending so much time with him? So what if she was now seeing _him_ more than the rest of them? It should not have bothered Sage one bit since he found her to be slightly exasperating…but it did. It bothered him and he couldn't figure out why.

All thoughts of his predicament turned to concern when he saw Robyn at her locker, moving in a slow, stiff manner with a look of dread on her face. Sage quickly closed the distance between himself and Robyn in a few strides, noting as he came to stand next to her that she seemed paler than normal. She slowly looked up at him, her green eyes less vibrant than they had been at lunch and she definitely seemed paler than normal.

"Are you all right?" he asked as she grabbed her backpack and closed her locker quietly. That was another odd thing that triggered the warning bells in his mind to go off. Robyn normally closed her locker door was something akin to slamming it shut, not this deliberately slow and quiet movement.

"To be honest—no…but for the sake of keeping Cye and the others from turning into meddlesome worry-warts and mother hens—yes, I'm feeling peachy-keen," she answered in what seemed to be a strained, but unmistakably sarcastic voice.

"You better do some damn good acting because you most definitely do not seem peachy."

"Considering I just threw up my lunch say ten minutes ago, I imagine I look like shit."

Sage pulled Robyn to a stop and looked her over, keeping hold of her arm so that she had to stay where she was. She did seem worse for wear and drained of almost all energy. He could only imagine how she felt right now. And how she was managing to keep going like this was beyond him. But hadn't she pushed herself like this before, right before winter break?

"Sage, we're going to be late, let's go," she whined, trying to tug her arm out of his firm grip.

"Maybe you should just go home," he suggested and noted the annoyed, yet surprised look she gave him.

"What? I can't go home…finals are next week—"

"You can borrow my notes."

She ceased her attempts to get her arm free and stared at him, but not really at him. He could tell she was considering it by the fact the she was biting her lower lip and had a look of contemplation on her face. She finally sighed, her shoulders drooping as she shook her head. "I can't…I mean I can but—I _really_ shouldn't miss this class. You know what our teacher said, Sage. She said that we should be here this week—"

"I know what she said but staying isn't going to do you any good if you're too sick to take decent notes. Besides, you'll be fine for this exam, but your Ancient Japanese History…"

Robyn groaned at the mention of her worst subject of the school year. "Mariko's supposed to help me with that tonight too…man this sucks!" she griped, resituating her backpack on her small shoulder.

"All the more reason for you to go home and rest."

"You really want me to go home, don't you?"

"I think you should rest so you don't get sick and miss exams next week. So yes, I do think you should go home."

"Fine, whatever…" she crossed her arms as best she could with him still holding onto her arm. He promptly released his grip on her and nodded as they both walked to class; the nurse was picky about students having a pass to go see her.

Half-way there Robyn noticed that Sage had something else on his mind. "There's something else, what?"

Sage figured it would be best to be frank, knowing that if he gave her a vague answer she would pester him about it until he told her. And right now Robyn was in no condition for him to do that to her. She'd focus on trying to get him to talk instead of resting for next week.

"It's about college," he said as they swiftly turned the corner in the almost empty hallways. They were going to be late, there was no way around it but he had a feeling that once their teacher caught sight of Robyn, she would understand the situation they had been in. At least he hoped that she would.

"What about it?"

"If you needed help with applications, you could have asked for help."

"I did ask for help, if I remember correctly. It just wasn't from any of you five. I didn't want to bother you all with it, not with your own apps and with finals coming up."

"That's a poor excuse, you know. You're so sick that you can't even come up with a good excuse?"

"Was that to be a joke? Besides, I don't see why it matters so much, especially to you. You're the last one I expected to hear this from…I mean they're just applications."

"It's not that…"

Robyn watched him carefully as they neared their classroom, confused by his behavior. "It's not?" she asked puzzled. "Then what? The fact that I'm doing them with Jayzen?"

She immediately noticed his jaw tighten at the mention of the young man's name. Robyn knew that the others were not too keen on the idea of her spending time with Jayzen, but she never thought that Sage had a problem with it. Nor had she thought he would even voice his opinion on the matter. He'd never really expressed an opinion or interest about her activities before… Why was he now? Was he jeal—no way! There was now way that Sage could be jealous… But then, why was he acting this way? Was he…jealous of Jayzen?

Robyn blushed, the color standing out greatly against her already pale complexion. "Oh…did you _want_ to help me?" she asked softly, instinctively looking away when he glanced at her.

God, why did she have to be so…innocent, for a lack of better words? And why did she act shy when things like this happened? Especially when he was around. He was sure that if it had been Cye or Kento or one of the others she wouldn't be acting this way. But then again, she wasn't feeling top notch at the moment either.

"You've already sent them out, haven't you?" he asked in an indifferent tone. But he couldn't explain why his heart had skipped a beat when she'd asked him for help, nonetheless. And for some reason, he didn't _want_ to know at this point. Later probably, but not now… Right now, she needed to go home and rest.

She was biting her lower lip again. "The ones for college, yeah……but I've got a few scholarship ones I could use some help on."

"If having Jayzen helping you with them works, then fine. I don't have a problem with you working with him," he lied. Lieing to her right now was so hard, especially when she was so vulnerable like this.

"Oh…" was all she whispered before they entered the classroom. By some saving grace, the bell rang just as they set foot inside the classroom. Their teacher gave them a disapproving look before _really_ looking at Robyn.

"Robyn-san, you look ill…would you like to go to the nurse?"

Robyn quickly glanced at Sage and at his stern look, sighed, nodding her head to her teacher's question. "Hai sensei-sama…I think I'd better go see the nurse," Robyn said quietly as she set her bag in her chair before approaching the teacher's desk.

Robyn waited patiently as the teacher scribbled her a pass and absently watched her classmates pull out sheets of paper or pencils for the class. As she did this, a wave of dizziness washed over her and she quickly leaned against the teacher's desk, clenching her eyes shut as she rode the wave of dizziness out.

When she opened her eyes again, she barely made eye contact with her teacher as a bout of nausea followed the dizziness. The unspoken question from her teacher was answered as Robyn quickly excused herself and raced out of the classroom door. She didn't care about the whispers the students were making, only that she find a restroom or even a trashcan quickly.

"Sage-san," the blonde young man looked up at his teacher as she said his name. "Will you take Robyn-san's things and walk her down to the clinic, please?"

He nodded and gathered her belongs, which really was only her backpack and pass to the nurse's office, before quickly leaving the classroom to find his red-haired companion. Sage had seen her suddenly lean against the teacher's desk ready to faint and had tensed, dreading the possibility that she would indeed do just that. He'd known that he wouldn't have been able to reach her in time if she had. He frowned, however, when he spotted her heaving into a large trashcan some four yards away from the classroom. Placing her bag down, he asked if she was all right. He desperately wished Ryo, Rowen or someone else was doing this because he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do really. Sure he'd helped his younger sister when she was sick, but that was in the familiarity of their home where his sister didn't have to go anywhere other than back to bed. And even then there had been a bucket next to her bed. But this was different…it wasn't his sister who was sick…it was Robyn…

Robyn tiredly looked up at him, strands of red hair falling into her face. "I'm hanging over a garbage can, in the middle of school, throwing up. What do you think?" her sarcasm was hardly at its finest as she took a shuddering breath and slowly stood, muttering an apology for the snide comment. She took a small step away from the trashcan and Sage before stopping. She swayed a little before whispering, "I feel like I'm going to be sick again."

With that, she quickly turned and dry heaved into the oversized bucket called a garbage can. Sage watched her for a moment before moving to pull back the red hair that had fallen to curtain her face from sight. What he saw pained him a bit. Tears slowly made their way down her face as she continued to dry heave. Once the wave had passed, she clenched her eyes shut, causing a few more tears to squeeze out and fall down her face.

Sage saw her lips move and barely made out the words of her hushed whisper. "It hurts…so badly" was what she had whispered. His jaw tightened as her body was racked by another bout of nausea and knew he couldn't do anything to ease her pain, if even a little. What was wrong with her? What illness had she caught? A stomach virus? It was very possible since this was the sort of position his younger sister had been in when she had caught a stomach virus.

He'd had the unfortunate luck of staying home to take care of her, missing school in the process and receiving a phone call from the principal who was demanding to know his whereabouts. Oh what a day that had been. Between the constant phone calls from school staff and helping take care of his sister, he was exhausted when his father had finally made it home early from the dojo. But Sage shook himself from that memory to focus on the present situation. He was the only help Robyn had at the moment, and for some unknown reason, it meant something to him…to be the only she could depend upon right now.

"Do you think you can make it to the nurse's office now?" he asked, waiting for her to reply. He barely recognized the movement of her head as a nod. He picked up her bag and slowly led her to the nurse's office.

It took them a few stops but they finally made it there. After taking one look at Robyn, the nurse had agreed to send to the young redhead home. Unfortunately, they would have to wait for someone to come pick her up since Robyn refused to pull Kento and Cye out of class just to take her home, especially since finals were next week. It seemed to Sage that she was using next week's finals as an excuse for just about everything now, but he said nothing about it. It really wasn't his place to say anything anyway. He just wanted her to get some rest and if she was willing to wait for one of the twins to come pick her up, then fine.

So here he was waiting on one of the twins to hurry and pick up Robyn. Sage stood by Robyn's chair as they waited, the latter holding a plastic bag at ready so she wouldn't have to run to the restroom. However, it seemed that the nausea had passed, merely leaving her body exhausted. He was trying to figure out whether or not to return to class so that he could take notes for _both_ of them...but he just had a nagging in the back of his mind that told him to forget the notes and stay with her. Even though he really didn't want to stand around and wait, he only did so because the nagging had come from his armor's soul. He glanced down at his companion's pale face, then up at the nurse, and lastly at the clock on the wall. It had been nearly ten minutes since they had called Cody's cell-phone…so where was she?

"Hey there ojou-san," a now familiar voice said quietly, breaking the silence. Everyone turned their heads, some more slowly than others, to see a young woman with long, forest green hair pulled back into two braids. She wore a pair of tight denim jeans, a Native-American designed tank top and a long sleeved, button down shirt over the tank top. The button shirt had been left open, so there was no doubt in Sage's mind that the only reason Cody was wearing it was so that she would be permitted inside the building since Han 'A High kept a strict dress code.

Robyn gave the younger twin a weak smile, "Hi…sorry to bug ya. I just didn't want to bother the guys anymore than I had to."

Cody nodded her head in understanding, "It's no problem kiddo! I was in town when you called anyway." The younger twin's face grew serious as she placed her hand on Robyn's forehead. "So, what symptoms do you have?"

"Dizziness, nausea and a slight fever," the school nurse spoke up, scribbling something down on a notepad.

Cody nodded but leaned in closer to Robyn when the young redhead motioned for her to. "It's not just my stomach though," Robyn whispered so that the nurse would not over hear, "it's also lower…" To Robyn's surprise, Cody's hand that had been place against the former's head quickly flew down to Robyn's abdomen, as if Cody was trying to sense something beyond the nausea attacks. The frown on Cody's face did not console Robyn at all.

"What? What is it?" Robyn asked quietly.

"Pregnancy symptoms…" Cody said in a hushed tone as she stood. Robyn watched as the young woman spoke to Sage for a moment before turning back to ask where Robyn wanted to stay. Robyn gave her an odd look.

"Which home are you more comfortable in, Mia's or Cye's?" Cody asked, trying to phrase the question from a different angle. Robyn again gave her an odd look. Wasn't the answer obvious? Cye's house most definitely! Robyn answered so and watched Cody smiled, digging out her car keys from her jean pocket.

While Robyn appreciated Mia's hospitality and aide, Robyn could sense a tiny bit of resentment in the other young woman's actions. It was as if the other woman was doing those things because she was Cye's childhood best friend and had somewhere along the way become a part of his small group of friends. Besides, Robyn felt as if she had imposed enough on Mia and Robyn was more than ready to fall back into the familiar bed that had become hers since her initial arrival in Japan nearly a year ago.

"I'm going to go back to class now," came Sage's voice from her side. She looked up at him in slight surprise. Robyn had thought Sage had returned to class the moment Cody had finished speaking with him. She thanked him for his help, smiling as he nodded back to her before quickly leaving the nurse's office. She could have sworn that she had seen the barest hint of a genuine smile as Sage had nodded and left, and she smiled at that.

"Come on ojou-san," Cody said, picking up Robyn's backpack and helping the redhead to the office where they could sign out of the school. "Let's get you home so you can snuggle up in bed and sleep for a few hours before my ornery sister comes and drills Japanese History into ya."

Robyn chuckled at the comment, not feeling nearly as nauseous as she had earlier, just exhausted. They took slow, easy steps to the office and then to the school parking lot, Cody holding onto Robyn's exhausted body the whole time. The silence was starting to bug Robyn as they approached a fairly new-looking, red Toyota pick-up truck.

"Cody, do you think Mariko will still let me go see Matt perform tonight?" Robyn asked, not being able to stand the silence between them anymore.

"Probably, as long as you get some rest. All that's bothering you really are some signs of pregnancy."

"But…I can't be—"

"Oh yes you are, kiddo. While Toto is in you, he's acting just like a human child, feeding off of you like a real baby would if you were truly pregnant. But hey, look on the bright side…you won't get the stomach for being pregnant with the bastard."

"Toto?"

"Totoyami actually, I'm just lazy and shortened it to Toto. Karasu was finally able to get a name for this seedling creature thing and that's what it is called."

"Oh…do you know what his name means? I mean, I know that karasu is raven…"

Cody bit her lower lip as she unlocked Robyn's side of the truck. "I don't think you want to know…" she whispered, looking at Robyn with a worried look on her face. "At least, not right now. You've got bigger things to worry about than what some name means, right?"

Robyn put on a fake smile to convince Cody and slowly climbed into the passenger side of the truck, buckling in as Cody ran around to the driver's side. "So, who's car is this?" she asked the younger twin, trying to make it seem as if she had placed the whole 'name meaning' subject out of her mind.

"Mine actually. Shadow refuses to get into a car that is enclosed, if she can avoid it that is."

As Cody continued to make small talk, Robyn slowly began to translate 'Totoyami.' Well, she couldn't think of a definition for the name as a whole, so she decided to take it apart. 'Yami' was 'darkness', she knew that right off the bat from having watched some Anime show a while back. But 'Toto' was stumping her. She finally remembered what it meant about ten minutes later as they headed to the Mouri residence. 'Toto' was 'at last'…so if she put it together in sequence… Robyn's heart fell slightly as she realized what the name meant…It made sense after all…the creature was evil and was to be the Dark Emperor…

_Totoyami means…'At last Darkness'…oh god……_

* * *

"Remind me never to ask Mariko for help on any subject," Kento said as he glanced at the clock. Ryo chuckled at that and nodded his head in agreement, while Cye merely shook his head, a smile on his face. They all were in better spirits than they had been after school, or at least the majority of them.

When Robyn hadn't shown up to meet them, they had grown worried; in fact, the moment Ryo saw Kento and Cye, he had asked the two if they had taken Robyn home or something. Both Cye and Kento had given the raven-haired young man a worried, questioning look. Ryo then explained that Robyn had missed class. Right after that Sage and Rowen joined them, Sage immediately telling them that Cody had taken Robyn home because Robyn had been sick.

Cye had practically jumped out of the jeep once they had pulled into the driveway of his home, barely noting the red pick-up parked next to the curb. Running inside, he took the stairs two at a time before reaching the top and going into check on Robyn. She'd been asleep then and he was going to wake her to see if she was all right but had been stopped by a hand on his shoulder. It had been Cody, softly telling him that Robyn was fine and that she would explain everything downstairs. He hadn't liked that idea and had loudly voiced it, only to have been hit in the head by a pillow right after. Robyn had darkly muttered something about over-protective brothers or something like that before having yelled at both him _and_ Cody to 'go away.' He'd left her alone since then.

Cody had explained to the three of them that the creature inside Robyn was just now showing signs of 'life' and that Robyn was now the equivalent to a pregnant woman. None of them had liked the sound of that, and (as they had find out not too long ago) for good reason. It now meant that anything that upset Robyn in the slightest would be blamed on them, whether it was their fault or not. Cody had just barely calmed Robyn's temper, which they hadn't known she possessed really until now due to the fact that she'd rarely released it on them before, when she had become sick to her stomach…again.

Cye frowned as he looked down at his notes. He wished there was something he could do for his female companion but he had to agree with Cody on this one (especially after the glares he'd gotten from Robyn), leaving Robyn alone until she became accustomed to being…pregnant was best. He didn't think he'd ever get used to thinking of Robyn as pregnant, especially since the creature inside her was evil. But Cody had said to give Robyn about a week and their red-haired friend would be back to normal with no temper…only slight mood-swings.

The creaking of the stairs brought their attention to the doorway of the kitchen as someone came down to the first level of the Mouri residence. The three of them watched Robyn bounce into the kitchen, obviously in a better mood than she had been earlier, closely followed by Mariko. Cody had left some while after Mariko had arrived around six for Robyn's 'tutoring' (as she put it) on Ancient Japanese History.

"Hi guys! Mariko's taking me to Matt's concert," Robyn said as she put on her shoes. "I should be back around ten-thirty."

Cye frowned and gave Mariko a disapproving look as he stated that he didn't think that it was such a good idea. He winced slightly as Robyn huffed and crossed her arms, saying that it was her decision and not his on whether or not she could go. He was about to reply when Mariko smiled reassuringly at them.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she stays out of trouble. Three atarashii ronins and a gaki should be enough to handle any problems that should arise, though I doubt any will happen. The club Matt's performing at is highly safe," explained the green-haired young woman she slipped on her boots as well.

"Three?" Kento questioned, not seeing how Matt and Mariko equaled three ronins.

"Matt, myself and Cody said she'd come to see why I always get onto Matt about practicing his guitar. Josh never misses Matt's performance unless it's a dire emergency."

"I won't be out late," Robyn said as she readied to leave.

Cye still didn't like it, but he couldn't really do anything other than trust that Mariko was right in that nothing would happen. "Have fun then," was all he could really say and Robyn smiled appreciatively at him, hugging him before she raced out the door. Mariko chuckled as she said good-bye and promised that she would take care of their redheaded friend as she followed Robyn out of the house.

Cye turned back to his two friends and they all shrugged. Somehow, in the short span of time that the twins, vampire and soul-gaki had spent with them, they had been integrated into the ronins' 'circle' and (the twins mainly) became friends. They did not see Matt and Joshua as often as the twins but they had learned that Mariko, Joshua and Cody home-schooled Matt because of his…dislike/aversion of sunlight. They figured Joshua was the one who mainly schooled Matt during the day, which would explain why the two were hardly seen.

Cye just hoped that nothing would happen. They deserved some quiet time after all…didn't they?

* * *

Robyn took a deep breath as she entered the club with Mariko and looked around apprehensively. The last time she was in a club, or at least remembered being in a club, was with the guys. She only knew of the 25+ club with Dragon from what she could prod out of the twins; the guys had practically flat out refused to tell her anything about it…other than she hadn't been herself at the time. It bothered her that she could hardly remember a single thing that had happened. All she could remember was the pain in her stomach, blacking out, escaping Dragon's office, running down the hallways trying to escape the building and drowning in an abyss of dark energy. She shuddered as she remembered being dragged under by the dark energy. It had been a frightening experience. But after drowning in that sea of darkness, she couldn't remember anything else. There was just a blank from the drowning to the resurfacing, which had been when Cye had promised her that they all would be there with her when she woke up. Though she didn't know why he had promised her that…

She shook herself from the depressing and disturbing thoughts she was mulling over and smiled at Matt as he came towards her and Mariko. However, Robyn's attention was quickly diverted as an attractive guy walked by them, and she raised an eyebrow at the package he was toting. She noticed that he was heading in the direction of the stage and smiled. So…he was part of Matt's band… Her smile grew bigger; it paid to be so likeable.

"Hey! I'm glad oneesan here let you come. I was starting to wonder, especially when Cody told me you weren't feeling well earlier," Matt said as he reached them, pointing at Mariko and gaining Robyn's attention at the same time. Robyn looked over him with a slightly critical eye before pouting slightly. He looked twenty-five again. She muttered under her breath how annoying it was when he continually changed his age. He merely gave her a lop-sided smile and apologized, though he didn't really mean it.

"Whatever…I'm kinda surprised that Cye didn't try to keep me at home. He usually doesn't give in that easy…" Robyn said thoughtfully and both Matt and Mariko laughed. She gave them an odd look.

"You're bitchy pregnant nerves have got them confused on what they should do. Males are able to sense when a female should truly be left alone (right Matt?), and that is what they are sensing. But their instinct and desire to protect you is clashing with that sense of letting you be," Mariko explained, noting the slightly clueless look Robyn was sporting. "In short, they're confused on what they should do about you."

"Well, I **can** take care of myself, you know."

"Sure…"

Robyn crossed her arms, mockingly putting her nose in the air as if offended. Matt grumbled something that sounded like 'women' and pulled her over toward the stage area, introducing her to the members of the band. She noted that some of the guys were taking interest in her the moment Matt said that she would be helping to write lyrics for some of their songs. Why she had agreed to write lyrics was beyond her…or maybe it was the fact that she was actually going to sing with them and earn money at the same time. She excused herself however, when they began to tune their instruments in preparation for their 'concert' and took a seat next to Mariko.

As she and the ronin of Phoenix waited for Cody and Joshua to join them, Robyn let her gaze drift around the small club. Her eyes followed the curves of the shadows, no longer fearing them or feeling that she should hate them; however, she was far from loving those shadows. Everything had to be balanced… But she narrowed her eyes when she noticed a shadow within the shadows and as she looked closer, she found the shadow to be a grotesque figure that smiled sadistically at her before vanishing. Robyn swallowed the scream that wanted to escape her lips. THAT had to have been her imagination…

"Robyn, you do know that you can write lyrics and then just give them to Matt, right?" Mariko asked her and Robyn looked at the woman thoughtfully, though for a different reason than what Mariko was assuming. Mariko would have sensed that thing in the shadows…wouldn't she? It didn't matter anymore really; it was gone and that was all the mattered…wasn't it?

"Matt has a natural talent for music. He can take just about anything and turn it into a song. So you can write lyrics and not have to worry about them fitting any style of music," Mariko continued, not sensing the young redhead's worry. Robyn nodded and promptly turned her attention to the stage as Matt's band was introduced. The first song was one from the movie soundtrack 'Spider-man' and Robyn found that she had heard it before she had left America.

"_You can laugh, you can fell fine, you can dance with a little twist. Turn your pretty red head babe, you forget that I exist. Can you see yourself in my bed at night, would you leave me at the side of the road? Would you walk right up to me? Would you talk to me?"_

Robyn looked up at two newcomers and smiled as Cody and Joshua joined their table. Cody smiled back and turned her attention to the stage while Joshua leaned over to whisper something in Mariko's ear. Mariko didn't seem too pleased by what the soul-gaki had to say but shrugged it off, obviously wanting to deal with it later. It was then Joshua turned to Robyn and smiled in greetance. Robyn smiled back, giving him a questioning look. Joshua mouthed the words 'mortgage payment' and she nodded in her head in understanding. Mariko wasn't happy about a home payment, not anything to do with the whole emperor/empress/Apollo deal.

"_I'm already asking, I'm down on my knees. I'm already begging, begging you please…Can you teach me how fly? (Come on!) You can see I'm scared to die! (Come on!) And I've only just begun to learn to crawl."_

Robyn sighed in relief and allowed herself to enjoy this quiet time. No having to worry about if she was going to get kidnapped, no worrying about if she was going to die, but most importantly…no worrying about if the guys were going to have to fight again.

"_Can you teach me how to fight? (Come on!) Would you keep me up all night? (Come on!) Will you be there on the ground if I should fall, fall for you…"_

Peace and quiet, finally. She could try to enjoy a normal life for the moment. Finally.


	16. The Gift of Giving with No Reason to Hid...

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Fifteen: The Gift of Giving with No Reason to Hide

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_What are you going to do with your gift dear child?_

_Give life, give love, give soul?_

_Divided is the one who dances_

_For the soul is so exposed_

_So exposed_

_Let's leave…oh let's get away_

_Get lost in time_

_Where there's no reason to hide_

_Let's leave…oh let's get away_

_Run in fields of time_

_Where there's no reason to hide_

**Creed, "Hide"**

_**

* * *

  
**_

The weekend before exams found several young people studying non-stop, while a young redhead annoyed several others. One older woman was to be found in the kitchen making a snack for the studious teenagers while another older woman sat at the kitchen counter, glancing over at the table of teenagers every now and then before looking back at her pen and pad of paper.

"Come on! Ask me another one!" the young redhead pleaded, holding a worksheet out in front of her friend's face.

"Why? You've got most of them right already," her friend stated, ignoring the paper dandling in front of him.

"Please Cye?" the young redhead again pleaded.

"Robyn, why don't you study for our Trig exam now?" Rowen interjected. The young redhead pouted for a moment before opening her trigonometry notebook and pulled out a worksheet and pencil.

Silence reigned, aside from the sound of pencil on paper and turning pages, for nearly fifteen minutes before another older woman entered the kitchen. The two twins greeted her politely as they were not taking exams next week and studying for them, unlike the six teenagers gathered around the kitchen table.

Mrs. Mouri had arrived home a day after Robyn had gone to Matt's concert with Mariko and was quite surprised to find two new people stopping by the house frequently; but she had merely smiled and welcomed them, saying that it was nice to see Robyn with some female companions of her own, aside from Kami (who had taken her exams early in order to go on vacation).

The twins had found an immediate companion in Mrs. Mouri, Mariko particularly since the elder twin was more the mother of her group; all three enjoyed pottery and Cye had more often than not found either Mariko or Cody sitting in the pottery room chatting with his mother in the last few days. It bothered him but at the same time relieved him that his mother was not greatly disturbed by the sudden appearance the twin's had made in Robyn's life.

Presently, Mrs. Mouri poured herself a drink before accepting a piece of food that Cody had offered her. The older woman complimented the younger twin on her cooking before looking over Mariko's shoulder at the pad of paper the elder twin was sketching on.

"Oh my, that's exceptional work," Mrs. Mouri murmured, commending the elder twin on her drawing skills.

"Thank you, but it's just a sketch, ma'am," Mariko said, signing her name and date at the bottom of the paper before placing the cap on her pen.

"Even so, it's very good. You have an eye for detail."

"Thank you, but—"

"Stop being so modest, onee-san," Cody said, not even skipping a beat as she finished preparing the snacks for all of them.

"You hush imotou."

Mrs. Mouri chuckled and left the two sisters to their bickering, making her way over to the table of teenagers.

"Go ahead and take a break. I think you all are ready for a snack anyway," she said, smiling as many of the teenagers gratefully closed their books and notebooks. Feeling that her job as mother was done for now, she went ahead and left them alone, taking her drink with her as she headed upstairs.

Robyn was curious to see what exactly it was that Mrs. Mouri had complimented Mariko on and so she moved to look at the sketchpad that was lying on the counter in front of the bearer of Phoenix. She couldn't believe Mariko was trying to say that it wasn't good. Robyn would have loved to have Mariko's talent if that drawing was just a sketch! It was a sketch of the six of them sitting at the kitchen table; Robyn was facing Cye as the latter was looking down at a book, Kento's head was bent over a paper with a pencil in hand, and Ryo, Sage and Rowen were all looking at their own books.

"I still haven't mastered the technique for ink drawings yet, but I think I'm getting the hang of it," she heard Mariko explain. Robyn looked at the other woman with a slight look of disbelief on her face. "I know, I know…stop being modest," the elder twin sighed, reading Robyn's expression clearly. She then said as an afterthought, "You can keep it, if you want it that is."

Robyn thanked her as Mariko tore the piece of paper off the pad and handed it to her. The young redhead then grabbed herself something to eat and joined the guys at the table while the twins stayed at the counter, due to lack of room at the table.

After a few moments, Cody began elbowing her older sister in the ribs, which caused Mariko to elbow her sister back, which only encouraged Cody to elbow Mariko again. Finally growing annoyed with her sister's antics, Mariko practically shoved her sister off the stool she was seated on. A squeal emitted from the younger twin as she ungracefully fell, grabbing onto her sister's arm at the same time. Mariko cursed as she held onto the counter and attempted to keep herself from being dragged to the floor with her sister. She was somewhat successful. What ended up happening was Cody's rear softly hit the floor (instead of falling on it _**hard**__)_ as she clung to her sister's arm, who in turn clung to the counter-top with her free arm.

"Jeez! What'd ya push me off for?" Cody asked, releasing the death grip on her sister's arm. "All I was trying to do was give you a hint!"

Mariko frowned and bit her lip, "You can't whisper?"

"Of course I can!"

"Well, then why didn't you?"

"Hint about what?" the two heard Kento question and they looked to see the six teenagers watching them curiously, perhaps even a little strangely.

"Nothing," Mariko said and promptly got a smack on the back of the head from Cody. As Mariko rubbed her now sore head, Cody moved to stand near the table.

"Since she isn't going to tell you, I will. We think we've figured out who the marble belongs to," Cody explained. "Remember that Italian kid who moved next door to you Ryo? We think that it's him."

"Okay, cool. I'll give it to Ryo and he can give it to the kid," Robyn said happily, glad to finally be rid of that thing.

"It's…not that simple…" Mariko began, "You have to give it to the boy yourself, Robyn."

"What? Why?"

"The newer armors are…oh, how to explain it…they don't like being abandoned. To a new armor, you placing your duties as guardian onto another is the same as abandonment to it. And it will take on a monstrous form and go on a rampage."

"Eek! That's not good!"

"No it's not, which is why Josh is going to take you to see the boy and Yasalia as soon as possible."

"Just Robyn? Can't we go with her?" Cye asked, not liking the sound of this.

"I would highly advise against it. The boy, according to Josh, was separated from his mother recently and feels vulnerable. If we were to have your armors near the boy while Apollo is there, the boy will be uncomfortable and the new armor will see your armors as a threat."

"Jeez! Who made these things anyway?" Kento commented.

Mariko calmly replied, "The Ancient One."

"What?" came from five young men promptly afterward. Mariko rolled her eyes and sighed.

"To make a long story short. The atarashii armors were a back up plan, should your armors have failed to destroy Talpa and failed to protect the Mortal Realm."

Robyn blinked as most of what was going on went over her head. What little she knew of the Ancient One was from what the guys had told her but all of this new stuff about the new armors being connected to this Ancient guy went right over her head. So she turned to look out the open and window, only to find a small gold fog bank hovering near the window that was behind her and the others. She immediately recognized the fog bank as Joshua and smiled, watching as he slipped through the metal screen and flowed across the floor inconspicuously towards the living room. Robyn had come to find that he was strange like that, not really wanting anyone to see him shift forms, but she never really understood why and he always refused to explain.

"Okay, but is Robyn going to be safe with this kid once he gets that armor?" Cye asked, not at all realizing that there was now a new occupant in the house. It was not until Joshua's voice drifted into the kitchen that the majority of them were startled by the sudden appearance of the soul gaki.

"I don't think you need to worry about Arain harming princhipesa here," announced the soul gaki as he entered the kitchen and came to stand near Mariko.

"Prin—what?" Ryo questioned but was distracted by Robyn correcting him.

"Princhipesa Ryo, didn't any of you ever watch Life is Beautiful? Oh never mind," Robyn said, shaking her head at their confused looks. "It's princess in Italian." Robyn then looked at Joshua. "Wait, why am I suddenly 'princess' here?"

"Because, both Yasalia and I refused to tell him your name and such. So instead of saying 'that girl' or 'that friend of yours,' he refers to you as princhipesa."

"But why princhipesa?"

"Because to him, you sound like a princhipesa."

Robyn flushed at that, demanding in an annoyed tone to know what exactly Joshua had said to the 'poor child.' Joshua, however, laughed and answered 'nothing but the truth.'

"Still…I don't see why he has to call me princhipesa," Robyn said, pouting. It was not that she didn't appreciate being called a princess, it was just that stereotypically a princess was a brat who always got her way, and she was far from that in her opinion.

"It's not meant to be an insult, Robyn. To him, you sound like a kind person and in his mind, that is a princess. I mean, he's only eleven."

Robyn shrugged her shoulders and went back to finishing her snack, which Kento had been eyeballing for past two minutes. The next comment Joshua made nearly caused Robyn to choke on her snack.

"Besides you don't seem to mind Jayzen treating you like a 'princhipesa,' at least not from what I've seen."

Robyn could feel the tension in the room growing at the mention of the name and she threw a glare at the soul gaki. Only she noticed that from the expression on his face, Joshua had said that out of concern.

"I hope you're not letting his words cloud your judgment," the soul gaki said calmly.

"First off, I don't need you getting on to my case about him. God knows these guys are bad enough," she said, motioning off-handily towards those sitting next to her. "And second, why do you say that?"

"I don't trust him and I know Yasalia is going out of her mind trying to figure out what the meaning of his aura is. She senses a hint of dark magick in his aura, but she can't figure out if it's because it's in his blood or from an outside source. If it's in his blood, then there's nothing to worry about really. He's probably got some relation to a dark elf or shadow mage if it's his blood."

"You mean elves really do exist?" Robyn asked excitedly but her question was quickly forgotten when Sage posed his own.

"Just who is this Yasalia you keep mentioning? Can she be trusted?"

Joshua nodded, explaining that Yasalia was a soul-gaki and that it was impossible for a soul-gaki to deceive another. "I would stake my existence that she can be trusted. She hated Talpa when he first entered this realm and has no desire to see his bastard son try to follow in his footsteps."

"Okay, so there's two more to chalk up under the allies category," Cody said from where she was leaning against the wall. "'Cause I think that little Italian boy is going to love the chance to be the valiant knight who protects his 'princhipesa.' Don't you, Robyn?"

Robyn groaned and placed her head in her hands. Now the whole 'princhipesa' was starting to get out of hand and a little humiliating. Her? A damsel in distress? While she was the first to admit that she practically would never take a swing at a person, she just didn't see herself as the damsel sort!

"In any case, when did you want to see if Arain is the one we've been looking for?" Joshua asked, noting Robyn's discomfort about the 'princhipesa' subject.

Robyn shrugged, "I don't know, how soon does it have to be?"

"There's no real deadline…but the sooner the better," Mariko answered. "Why not this evening? I know you all have been studying so hard, but too much studying can be as bad as too little. So we'll go out to eat and it'll be on me. What do you think?"

* * *

Robyn huffed as she dug through her stuff to find the stupid marble before they all left to go out. She was so preoccupied before hand that she hadn't paid attention to where she had put it and now, of all the times she needed to find it, she couldn't. She growled and shoved a drawer closed, standing and crossing her arms as she surveyed the disaster area that was her room. Where had she put it?

"Mew."

Robyn paused and frowned; mew? Where had that come from?

"Mew."

More importantly, what had that come from? Robyn slowly turned towards her bed only to find a strange animal looking at her curiously. She froze as she stared at the animal, unsure of where it had come from and unsure of what it was going to do. But it was so cute looking!

"Mew."

Robyn smiled, "Well, you're too cute for words." The animal was a cross between a cat, a fox and a red panda. It was too cute!!! She was half tempted to take it downstairs and ask Cye if she could keep it. The look on his face would be priceless!

"Mew."

Robyn raised an eyebrow at it as it leaped off her bed and bounded towards her dresser. The creature was about as large as a housecat and seemed to act like one too. It made little noises as it batted its paw underneath her dresser.

Curious, Robyn moved towards the dresser, getting on her hands and knees to look under it as the creature continued to bat at something. She peered under the piece of furniture before sticking her hand in the area that the creature was so interested in. The creature, she noticed, immediately ceased its attempts to get whatever it was when Robyn searched for it herself. Running her hand across the carpet, she came across something smooth and cold, like glass. And it was spherical in shape, she realized after she grabbed the object.

Pulling out the object, she found herself holding the item she had been searching for. She looked the creature straight in the eyes as it flicked its slender, striped tail back and forth. It was obviously pleased with itself for it purred contentedly and looked at her with such a proud gaze.

"Well, thank you," Robyn said, standing. The creature immediately wove in and out of Robyn legs, purring as it rubbed itself against her. Giggling, Robyn reached down to scratch it behind the ears. "Now how did you get in here is what I want to know."

"Mew."

Sighing, Robyn disentangled herself from the creature's meandering path and moved to the door, preparing to go down and join the others.

"Mew."

Robyn looked back over shoulder to smile and say good-bye to the creature…only to find her bedroom empty. Looking around the hallway and her room, she surmised that it was indeed gone. Had it vanished? Odd, was all she could come up with as she went downstairs.

"Hey Cye," she began, slipping on her canvas tennis shoes. "If you see something that's a cross between a cat, fox and red panda running around the house finding things for ya…let me know. I wanna keep it."

She smiled at the look on his face, perplexed confusion and distaste. Priceless…

* * *

Robyn stared at the little New Age store Joshua had brought her to and shivered involuntarily as she looked at some of the merchandise that was displayed in the window. The store reminded her of the place where she had first met Jason and had learned of Nago and his dark powers. Joshua wasn't actually serious about this place was he? If so, she was not sure if she could keep from shivering the whole time, despite the warm, muggy weather that blanketed the city this time of year.

She frowned and looked at her watch. She and Joshua had separated from the rest of the group no longer than twenty minutes ago, the rest of them going to a little diner that Cody knew of. But it was not that late and there was hardly anybody out on the street. Was this Joshua's doing? Was Joshua going to betray her like Scott had?

Robyn shook her head to clear it of such thoughts. No, Mariko had told her that Scott had sold his soul to Dragon/Tregarde without their knowledge because at one point, they had all thought that Cody had been buried alive under a ton of rubble. Obviously the ronin of Gaea had survived…but Scott had already sold his soul by the time that they had found out…

"Anyone looking?" she heard Joshua ask her and she immediately snapped to attention. Looking around her, she frowned at the lack of people.

"Anyone looking?" she echoed his question, heaving an exasperated sigh. "Josh, there's no one here!"

When she turned back to look at him, she found herself staring at dense bank of gold fog with glowing gold eyes. She squeaked in surprise before watching apprehensively as the fog bank slid underneath the door. Seeing that there was a curtain closed behind the door, she snapped her fingers. She had been hoping to see Joshua turn solid!

After a moment, Joshua appeared from behind the curtain and unlocked the door for her, holding it open and locking it again after she slipped inside. He then made sure that no one could peek in, pulling the curtain in all the right places to block everything from the view outside.

Robyn turned her attention to the inside of the store, feeling some of her previous nervousness ease away as the smell of cherry blossoms drifted to her nose. She glanced around for the source and found some incense burning here and there. A little pagoda had been set up in the middle of the store and in it a rock waterfall pond, which was also the only evident noise in the store. She ran a hand across a pale blue sarong that had been draped around the edge of a counter before turning to Joshua when he spoke.

"Pretty nice in here, huh?" he commented, inhaling the scent of cherry blossoms deeply. She smiled as he then hopped up to sit on top of a counter that had some Egyptian artifacts and merchandise.

"Are you sure you weren't just trying to get me _alone_," she teased, laughing when he blinked at her rapidly, mouth open as if to protest. "I'm kidding," she soothed but he didn't seem too convinced as he kept giving her an unsure look. "So, where is this Yasay—er—Yasal—uh—"

"It's Yasalia," he corrected, smiling gently. "And don't freak out when you see her. Her eyes are—unique."

"Like yours?" she questioned and grinned when she saw that faraway look, even if it was for a split second. When he nodded, her grin grew even larger. "You like her," she said, waggling her eyebrows at him, smiling. At the slight stain across his cheekbones, she roared in triumph, "Aha! You like her! I knew it! You had this look on your face that totally gave it away! Even if it was for a split second but still—it was there! I saw it!"

"Shh! Don't say anything to her about it!" he hissed, a dark look suddenly on his face. Robyn immediately quieted at this, thoroughly confused at his behavior. Did this Yasalia not feel the same way? Or was it another one of those gaki things she kept being told of?

She didn't have time to ask before Josh cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered. "Oi! Kitsune-onna!"

"BAKA!" came an enraged female voice from somewhere. Robyn quickly turned her attention to a midnight blue curtain near the counter as it was thrown aside and a stapler went flying through the air at Joshua. The soul-gaki merely laughed and caught the appliance in mid-air.

"You ungrateful, egotistical, tori-atama!" the voice continued. "Never have I yet met a male who is as ungrateful and inconsiderate and disrespectful as you! Why did the Ancient Ones curse me with such a fate as to meet someone like you I will never know—"

"Oi! Kitsune, are you done?" Joshua asked a smirk on his face as a frustrated scream heralded the entrance of a young woman with long blonde hair. Robyn blinked and looked at the woman in surprise as the blonde stalked menacingly toward the smirking soul gaki. She had the perfect figure from what she could see with the long ritual robe that was wrapped around her.

The woman then took a deep breath as if to calm herself and turned to look at Robyn. Robyn could not stop the slight gasp that escaped her lips as she found herself staring into a pair of blood red eyes. This had to be that soul gaki that Cye had seen that one night, it just had to be…

"Ah, I see you are doing well. I had been worried about you since I found out you had a run in with Tregarde already. Unfortunate that it happened and unfortunate that you nearly cracked too but you seem to be well now. I take it Halo's aura has helped along with Torrent's," the woman said to her and Robyn swallowed nervously. This place was really starting to disturb her.

"Is this Princhipesa?" a boy's voice asked and Robyn looked past the woman to the young boy by the curtain. He had blonde hair as well, but his eyes were the strangest blue—so light that they seemed almost grey, like a silver.

"Arain meet Robyn. Robyn this is Arain," Joshua said from his seat on the counter. Robyn smiled politely at the boy who had a large grin on his face, who then turned to the woman, Yasalia, and spoke to her in what Robyn assumed was Italian. The two conversed for a moment before the boy gave a startled gasp when the woman grabbed his arms, shaking him gently as she continued to speak.

Robyn blinked as the boy suddenly yanked out of the woman's grasp and ran towards her, Robyn, wrapping his arms around her in what seemed like desperation. She gave a questioning gaze to the woman who shook her head apologetically.

"Please forgive him," Yasalia said, speaking softly. "He claims that you remind him of his mother, though younger."

Looking down at the boy who held her fiercely, Robyn slowly encircled her arms around the small frame as she heard him begin to cry. So the kid really missed his mother and she, Robyn, was a reminder of what he had left behind.

"Arain has been sent to live with his Aunt while the Italian government grants his mother sole custody and annulment from his father," Yasalia continued. "Apparently his mother had been forced into the marriage without her consent and the courts are still debating on whether she is truly married or not."

_'He loves her very much,'_ Robyn thought as she looked down at the boy and began to comfort him. She could sense his desire to protect his mother, his desire to protect _someone_, like his mother had for him.

Robyn suddenly yelped as a piercing heat pressed against her and she roughly pulled away from the boy, digging into her front pocket to pull out the armor orb. Both she and Arain stared at the orb in surprise when it began to float out of Robyn's hand and levitate in mid-air between them. She watched as Arain hesitantly reached out to touch the orb.

The moment his hand touched it, the orb flared so brightly that Robyn cried out in surprise and covered her eyes. She heard the boy gasp in surprise and pain and Robyn wondered what was going on. Had the orb done something to hurt the boy? Was the boy not the bearer after all?

When the light had faded, Robyn looked at Arain to see if the boy was all right but gasped at the sight in front of her. He was in full battle armor, which resembled Sage's a great deal, only instead of the large sword that the Halo armor sported, Arain's had a bow and quiver that greatly resembled Rowen's. The coloring was different as well; where the guys had white, there was black and Arain's colors were gold, yellow and little bit of white here and there.

"Wow," was all Robyn could manage to whisper as the boy inspected himself, a look of complete awe on his face.

He finally came to his sense though, for he then smiled up at her as happy as could be before turning to Yasalia with a questioning look. "Now what do I do?" he asked her.

The blonde woman shrugged, "Imagine how you were before in your clothes and concentrate. You'll know when to stop."

The boy gave her an odd look but did as he was instructed, closing his eyes and concentrating. Robyn watched as the armor flickered and reverted to subarmor instead of the boy's t-shirt, pants and sneakers. Eyes still closed, Arain frowned, concentrating harder and Robyn found herself holding her breath as she waited. The subarmor began to flicker and finally fade back to the boy's clothes.

When he opened his eyes, a grin once again spread across his face, but his body drooped a little. "That was harder than I thought it would be," he complained slightly and Robyn giggled at the kid.

"Mou, you just get your armor and you already expect it to be easy to be an atarashii ronin?" Joshua quipped, ignoring the sharp look Yasalia gave him. A small smile appeared on the gaki's face though as he then said, "Don't push yourself too hard, kid. You'll get there eventually. It did with the ronins before you so don't sweat it."

Robyn smiled, looking at the boy and then at Josh. So now that she had given the armor to its rightful owner, things were supposed to ease up a bit, right?

* * *

Apparently not, she realized as she found herself blinking rapidly up at the face of Jayzen as he smiled down at her in surprise. Right, like she _really_ needed this before exams. Sighing almost inaudibly, she smiled back at the handsome young man in front of her.

"Jayzen! Wow! What are you doing here?" she asked in what she hoped was a surprised, yet happy tone. God knew she just wanted to eat, go home and sleep right now. All that studying had wiped her out and she wanted to be rested for exams on Monday.

"Ah, I had a craving for a good ol' American cheeseburger and this is the best place to get one," he answered truthfully, still smiling. "What about you?"

"Oh, I was kind of doing the same thing, except my friend suggested this place."

He nodded and then glanced over at the table that her friends were waiting at, many of them trying not to be caught watching the two of them. Robyn again sighed, this time aloud, before rolling her eyes and turning back to Jayzen.

"I getcha," he said chuckling. "They aren't too keen on me, huh?"

"You have no idea."

He again chuckled before turning slightly serious. "Listen, I tried calling you the other day but your friend's mom said that you were busy all this weekend. What's up?"

Robyn gave him a lop-sided grin, "Let's see, it's nearing the end of the school year…I'm also a senior this year…so I have both exams and Graduation practice to deal with."

He grinned ruefully back at her, "I hope yours turns out better than mine. Mine was almost a complete disaster. And trust me, you don't want to know how; it could take hours to explain."

Robyn laughed at that, "Okay, I guess I'll take your word for it, but you _are_ going to tell me it sometime, right?"

"Sure."

She smiled at that and listened with interest as Jayzen went onto a different subject while they waited for their food. She would join the others when hers got there but why not enjoy the wait?

Robyn suddenly went still, her back slowly going rigid as she sat up straighter. Something was wrong…she didn't know how she knew it but she could just—feel—sense—that something was off. It was like a dark mood one could sense hanging around a person…only she couldn't figure out who it was coming from. The feeling made her skin crawl and she glanced at the others to see if they felt the same way.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in an attempt to rid herself of the creepy feeling. The others didn't seem bothered by it…though Cye had given her a questioning look, in which she shook her head in answer to. Something was just…off.

A sharp pain at her temple made her wince and she quickly reached up to massage it. Great, she now had a headache on top of everything else. _Wait_, she thought to herself as she massaged her left temple, _this feels kind of like when my legs got all heavy at the hospital…right before I passed out…_

Robyn looked up at the others to see if they were near being finished. Whatever it was that was off, she didn't like it. Not one bit. "Are we almost done?" she asked, almost apprehensively. Some of them gave her an odd look and she couldn't blame them for the look; she'd only eaten maybe half of her meal.

Mariko gave her a concerned look, "Something wrong?"

Robyn bit her lower lip before shaking her head, "No, I'm just tired."

That answer satisfied most of them and Robyn turned to look around the little diner, trying to figure out where the creepy feeling was coming from. She had no such luck and was interrupted when Jayzen came to stand in front of her (she was on the end of the booth).

"Hey, I just wanted say good-bye and I guess I'll call you later," he said and Robyn smiled up at him, trying to hide the creepy feeling that was still plaguing her.

"Sure, but preferably after graduation," she reminded him and he nodded, chuckling.

"Yeah, good luck with that," he said before politely saying good-bye to the others at the table.

Robyn watched him leave through the glass doors and disappear out of sight before closing her eyes and massaging her temple that was now throbbing with a dull ache. Terrible time to get a headache, she mused to herself.

"Something about that guy is starting to give me the creeps," Cody commented in between munching on her French fries and sipping her soda. Robyn heaved a frustrated sigh and gave the younger twin a pointed look. "What? I'm just saying that he seemed like he was in a bad mood or something."

Robyn's look turned to a thoughtful one. Bad mood? Could it have been Jayzen that that feeling had been coming from? Well, anything was possible, she figured. But why was she suddenly sensing things like bad moods with more clarity than she had before?

Sage narrowed his eyes as Robyn once again massaged her left temple. He hadn't liked the way Jayzen's aura had been radiating with dark magic. It most certainly did not feel right, not natural at least; in fact, the young man had felt almost like he had been tainted by something else, but Sage wasn't sure.

And why had Robyn seemed so uneasy just a few moments ago? Her whole body had gone rigid and she had glanced at all of them as if she was looking for something. But she had told Mariko that nothing was wrong…had she lied? No, she hadn't lied, only given a different, yet truthful, answer. What was she hiding? Didn't she realize that she didn't have to hide anything from them? Though he couldn't talk really…he was still having trouble sleeping…though the nightmares were lessening in the number of times they occurred.

"Are we all done?" Mariko asked them and Sage nodded as they all got up to leave, Mariko staying behind to pay the bill as she had promised to do. As they stood outside waiting on the elder twin, Sage noticed that Robyn had allowed the tension in her to ease away. What had had her so tense?

"Now what?" she asked somewhat eagerly.

"We go home and study some more," answered Cye, who grinned as she looked disappointed at the answer. Obviously she had been hoping to get out of studying for just a bit longer. She playfully pouted, crossing her arms but followed without complaint as they headed back to the Mouri residence.

Sage sighed almost inaudibly as he walked with the others, glancing down the street and alleyways every so often. Things had appeared to slow down a little for them; there hadn't been any threats in the past week and he was grateful. Perhaps they could even get through Graduation without any trouble occurring. Yes, that _would_ be nice, he thought to himself.


	17. Not Your Typical Sleepover

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Sixteen: Not Your Typical Sleepover

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_Comin' down the world turned over_

_And angels fall without you there_

_And I go on as you get colder_

_Or are you someone's prayer?_

_You know the lies they always told you_

_And the love you never knew_

_What's the things they never showed you_

_That swallow the light from the sun inside your room, yeah_

_[…]_

_Comin' down the years turn over_

_And angels fall without you there_

_And I'll go on and I'll bring you home and_

_All because I'm_

_All because I'm_

_And I'll become_

_What you became to me_

**Goo Goo Dolls,**_** "Black Balloon"**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

Sage looked up at the phone and then at the clock before frowning, blinking sleep from his eyes. School was finally out, graduation had gone smoothly and now all he really wanted to do was try and get some sleep. Especially since sleeping during the day seemed to be the only way to keep that nightmare from coming back…and growing worse. So if it was Rowen, the bearer of Strata was due for an earful.

Picking up the phone, Sage prepared himself to give his friend a nice lecture about waking people from naps. However, he was not prepared for it being a different friend on the line… More precisely, he was surprised when he found it to be Cye calling him.

"Have you seen Robyn?" the bearer of Torrent asked. Sage frowned as a sense of dread knotted itself in the pit of his stomach. Didn't Robyn know better than to go running off by now?

"No, I haven't," Sage said, waiting for a moment for Cye to say something. When his friend continued to be silent, he spoke again. "Why?"

"She went over to a friend's house to help baby-sit and I thought maybe she'd called one of you guys."

"She went out today?"

"No, last night. It was an all-nighter and that's why she went to help her friend."

"And she hasn't come back yet?"

"No, that's why I called. I thought she might have gone over to Ryo's or Rowen's to get some sleep, but they haven't seen her either."

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Same here," Cye answered, worry evident in his tone.

"I'll go take a look downtown. My mom wanted me to go out and get some things today anyway."

"Thanks Sage. I appreciate it."

Sage placed the phone back in its cradle and glanced out the kitchen window. Where was she? Was she hurt? Why hadn't she called Cye yet? Had she been kidnapped again? Was that why she hadn't called him? Didn't she realize it wasn't safe for her to be out by herself anymore?!

Pulling himself from his thoughts, he quickly put on his shoes and grabbed the money on the counter that his mother had left for him. The fleeting thought of going and dragging Rowen with him made him pause for a moment, but Sage shook his head as he closed and locked the front door behind him. His younger sister was at the dojo with their father today since it was summer break and his mother was at the hospital, working her usual dayshift.

Cursing for having left his cell-phone back inside the house, Sage decided to leave it and raced towards downtown Toyama. Aside from getting the things he said he would, he was hoping to find Robyn safe and sound as well.

* * *

"Now remember, concentrate."

"Hai, sensei-sama."

The clouds began to thicken slowly, gradually darkening and blocking the sunlight as the minutes passed by. The tall blonde smiled before turning back to the young boy and praising him on his progress. "You're doing much better Arain!"

A weak smile was all the boy could manage as he continued to concentrate.

"Now Arain, bring a storm that will make even that traitor think twice about harming our Empress," the tall blonde whispered seriously, her red eyes narrowed as she looked out the glass door of the New Age store.

Arain nodded as his eyes literally clouded over and began to reflect the storm that was beginning to strengthen outside. That man would not be able to find Robyn now, not with a drenching rain pelting down on the city. He wouldn't let that man harm his Princhipesa, not if he, Arain, could help it.

"Concentrate!" the blonde woman snapped with authority in her voice. "You're letting your thoughts wander!"

Gritting his teeth, he refocused his attention on the storm outside. He would not fail his Princhipesa! He couldn't! She reminded him too much of his mother to fail her now…

He waited for the moment when the storm would no longer resist his command and when he felt that tingle in the back of his mind, he slowly let go of the command. Moments later, thunder rolled and boomed over head and Arain glance out the store's glass door, not the least surprised to see a light rain outside.

"Well done, Arain of Apollo," his mentor praised, coming to stand next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before turning to go back to her inventory.

"I just hope it's enough, sensei-sama," he answered, still watching the rain.

"Hai, it will be…it will be…but it will only save her for today…but it will be enough…it will be…"

* * *

Sage cursed as he ran through the streets, trying to keep the groceries from being completely soaked through. Of all the luck! The sky had been so _clear_ earlier! But now he was soaked through to the bone _and_ he had not been able to find Robyn anywhere while he was in town. It all added up to a bad mood for him as he ran up the walk to his home.

Ignoring his hair that was plastered to the sides of his face, he unlocked the front door and slipped off his wet shoes. Making a face at the feeling of his wet socks and of the squishy sound they made, he walked over to the kitchen counter and dropped the groceries there. Not sure if he should start to put them away or change first, he stood in the kitchen for a moment, allowing the excess water to drip off his clothes and onto the tile floor of the kitchen.

Looking down at his shirt, he peeled the soaked fabric away from his skin, frowning. Perhaps he _should_ change first… That thought was cut short by the sound of the doorbell and his frown deepened. Who was out in _this_ weather?

The doorbell rang again as Sage made his way over to the front door and as he opened it, he readied himself to find a stranger wanting shelter. The person he found on the front step left him speechless and eyes wide as he took in the red hair that was matted to her forehead and neck. Rivulets of water flowed down the column of her neck to her short-sleeved top that was soaked through and her denim shorts, shoes and socks were in no better shape than the rest of her.

"Robyn?" he asked in confusion and surprise.

"I'm sorry…I-I didn't know where else to go. I—I—"

He shook his head and moved aside to let her into the house. He watched as she meekly thanked him and hovered near the front door once he had closed it, as if ready to run back outside into the rain if need be. Didn't she realize that that was a cold, drenching rain, despite that it was summer? There was no way he was going to let her run back out into that!

"What happened? Cye called earlier, asking if I had seen or heard from you. Where were you?" he asked in a calm tone. He watched as she slumped her shoulders, head hanging low so that strings of her red hair fell to obscure her wet face from his view.

"I went to see Arain and Yasalia after I had finished baby-sitting. Arain was so excited to show me this new trick of his… I—Jayzen—he—he happened to walk into the store while I was there… He seemed upset that I was there spending time with Arain and not him… He—he—he hit me and was about to swing at me again but Arain—he… Arain—he stopped him and I ran… I—I—" she trailed off, not daring to look up at him.

Her whole body was shaking and her voice was so small and unsure that Sage didn't want to think of what could have happened had the kid not stepped in. He could understand her need to see the boy; besides having been the guardian of the armor, she could understand what the boy had gone through. Both had had abusive parents and for Robyn, it struck her deeply that this boy was trusting her, a complete stranger in a foreign country.

"It's okay, you're safe now," he said calmly, watching as she slowly nodded. After a moment, he watched her head snap up to look up at him as he asked in confusion "Why me though? Rowen's place is closer to town."

"I know, but no one was there, he wasn't home…besides, you're probably the only one who wouldn't immediately run out and kill him. All the others have hated me spending time with Jayzen from the start, and I'm not exactly in the mood to hear the 'I told you so' lecture from any of them."

With her looking straight at him, Sage could see the first signs of a bruise forming on her cheek. Fists clenching at his sides, he turned to head deeper into the house towards the kitchen, muttering "Don't be so sure" under his breath. When she didn't follow, he frowned at her, knowing that she was staying where she was _not_ because she had heard him, but because she was still nervous from the earlier confrontation with Jayzen and didn't really know what to do. "You're not going back out in that, so come in."

Her figure came in rather reluctantly, but he could see the curiosity burning in her eyes as she looked around the house. That's right, she had never been here before, and he mused over her curiosity, realizing that the only places she had been inside were the other's homes. This was new territory for her…

"Have you eaten yet?" he asked, watching her shake her head as she looked at the living room that was next to the kitchen. "What do you want?"

She looked at him in surprise and he raised a brow at her look. Did she expect him to starve her? For the love of Anubis! He knew how to be a gracious host! He had been raised as a gentleman, and starving your guest was one of the major 'don't's' in being a gentleman and a good host.

"You don't have to worry about me," she whispered, looking down at her feet. He heaved a frustrated sigh as he left the kitchen, heading towards his room. While he would prefer not to, he knew he would need to offer her a warm shower or dry clothes at least. She'd catch a cold if she stayed in those wet clothes and Cye would have his head for not having taken care of her when no one else was able to. The last time she had gotten sick…she had missed so much school and Cye was going out of his mind with the fact that he wasn't really able to help her…

He shook his head, quickly shrugging out of his wet clothes and dumping them into a wet pile in the clothes hamper. He then changed into some drier clothes before grabbing his bathrobe and heading back towards the kitchen. His bare feet were silent on the carpeted floor as he approached her.

"The bathroom is the second door on the left," he said in an uninterested manner, handing her his bathrobe as he spoke. She looked at him again in surprise, but he ignored it and turned back to the kitchen. He began to unpack the groceries that had bought earlier at his mother's request.

"I'll be fine waiting it out," she said, moving to hand him back his robe.

He didn't bother to pause or turn around as he spoke to her. "No, you won't. Go and shower." His eyes narrowed when he felt the air around them grow tense for a moment as she debated whether to challenge him or not. The air settled again as she docilely took orders and left the kitchen. She 'hmphed' as she left, letting him know her displeasure about it, and he heard her footsteps pad gently down the hallway before he heard a door shut.

That was new… Robyn had never been able to cause the air to be tangible with tension before… It was probably due to that creature being inside of her. Mariko had explained that Robyn would be able to manipulate its power without even realizing it…

Sighing, he picked up the phone and dialed Cye's number.

"Mouri residence," he heard the young man answer and he sighed again, looking up at the ceiling.

"It's Sage. I found her."

"Is she all right? What happened?"

"She's fine. She went to visit that Italian kid at the store. By the time she was heading back, she got caught in the storm and was closest to me, that and Rowen wasn't home. She'll stay here until it lightens up."

"Good idea, it's really bad out."

Sage looked outside the kitchen window, watching the storm rage on while lightening flashed in the distance. Something about this storm just wasn't right though… There had been nothing about it in any weather predictions this morning and it had descended upon the city so quickly…

"It doesn't feel like a normal storm though," Cye continued and Sage nodded, though his friend wouldn't know.

"Yeah, but at the same time, it doesn't feel evil or threatening…" Sage commented, watching lightening flash across the sky again.

"You're okay with Robyn being there until the storm lightens up?"

Sage frowned, "Have a little faith. I wouldn't send _anyone_ out in that."

"All right then. Look, I think the power's about to cut out here. Thanks again, I owe you one," Cye said and Sage heard a continuous beep that told him the connection had been lost.

"Was that Cye?"

Sage glanced over his shoulder before placing the phone back in its cradle. He then nodded and leaned against the countertop, looking out at the storm. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach; something was taunting him in the back of his mind. '_I know where she is…'_ it seemed to say, _'You can keep her for now…but she'll be mine soon enough…you can't keep her from me forever…'_

He looked over his shoulder at the girl who stood in his royal blue, fuzzy bathrobe. It went to her ankles on her and she held her wet clothes in her arms as her eyes silently asked him where she should put them. It was hard to tell if she had taken a shower or not, since her hair had been damp before and he wasn't about to push the issue. At least now he could get her clothes warm and dry in the drier, without her catching a cold.

"Let's see if the power will last long enough for these to dry," he said, moving to take the wet clothes and put them in the dryer. She mumbled a 'thank you' as she stood by the kitchen, hands clasped in front of her. She was still standing like that when he came back from the laundry room; her eyes were fixated on the tiles in front of her feet, allowing her damp hair to curtain her face from view. "What do you want to eat?" he again asked her.

"I'm fine, but…what did you tell Cye?"

"What you told me." He noted the slightly fearful look she gave him after he said this, so he went on to explain. "You were visiting the kid and was on your way back when the storm came."

She visibly relaxed and smiled, "Wow, and you didn't even have to lie to him."

"I don't lie."

She frowned at him, "Maybe not but…"

He gave her a look that encouraged her to continue. He was somewhat curious to see where she would be taking this conversation.

"You didn't tell us about those nightmares before…and you're not telling us about them again..."

He glared at her, "Mariko told you, didn't she."

"Mariko knows? I didn't know that Mariko also knew…I wonder why she didn't mention anything…" Robyn said as she gave him a confused look.

Sage's frown deepened. If Mariko had not told her, then how did Robyn know about the nightmares? How had she found out? He thought he had been hiding his fatigue better than last time… She was looking at him in a thoughtful manner and he felt uncomfortable, shifting and moving to hide his discomfort by putting the groceries away.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked him softly.

"It's mine to deal with…"

"Sure, but why?" she again asked him. "We might be able to help…"

He inwardly smiled at her determination, "It's not a big deal, really."

She watched him carefully for a moment before slowly nodding. She then quietly ventured, "Are they really that scary?"

He stood there looking at her for what had to have been the longest minute in his life before he hesitantly answered her. "Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it? It helped last time, right? Talking to Rowen about the nightmares had helped, right?"

He slowly nodded, "I'll talk about it when I'm ready…"

She nodded, almost as if she was pleased with herself that she had gotten him to agree, but he didn't think he'd ever be able to speak of the nightmares this time. It was almost laughable about how embarrassed he was of the nightmares involving her, and knowing Rowen, he would laugh about it for a moment before taking the situation seriously. However, it annoyed Sage that he could not shake the nightmares and that was only because the victim of the nightmares was sitting in front of him, smiling at him as if there was nothing to be afraid of. He couldn't speak of how worried he was nor that he was afraid for her. There were so many dangers out there and yet there she was smiling as if nothing was trying to harm her. But there was…

Another thought dawned on him; "How did you know about the nightmares?"

Robyn blinked, clearly not having expected that question to be asked of her. She then looked away from him, her eyes almost introspective. "Mariko says that because of what happened with…Totoyami—that I can now sense things that most people can't—see things that people can't…"

She glanced back at him and he wondered if she was afraid that they would think her crazy with all that she was saying. Well, any normal person would think she was crazy if she began talking about such things…but them? They had fought Talpa, had traveled to the Nether Realm and with everything else that had happened so far, they were anything _but_ strangers to the paranormal and magick department.

"Did you know that there's a creature that creates our dreams?"

After a few seconds of silence he spoke; "So you're saying that you've spoken to this thing?"

"Her—I've spoken to her. She said something was blocking her from one of you guys _again_. It was the _again_ that tipped me off that it must have been you. You were the only one that I knew of that had had nightmares from an outside source before."

"I see…did she say how to fix the problem?"

"No…she said she couldn't do it, she had tried everything she could but that she wasn't strong enough… But she also said that her powers were nothing compared to the 'Mother Empress.' Like I can really figure any of this out on my own…" she said, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to her left foot, a gesture of annoyance and exasperation. Silence then settled over the kitchen again and Sage thought it safe to change the subject.

"Can we _now_ discuss lunch?" he asked lightly, smirking as she stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance. She then sighed and moved to sit down at the kitchen table, gazing out the window. He watched her profile for a moment, trying desperately to quell that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. She was safe for now…but speaking of the nightmares had not diminished that uneasy feeling the slightest bit. So much was happening to her and they had barely saved her the past couple of times… What if they didn't make it there in time to save her when something happened again?

"Peanut butter sandwich is fine for me…if it's not too much trouble," she answered after a moment of thought. He nodded, knowing that for now, she was safe. As long as one of them stayed near her, she was safe…

"It's no trouble."

* * *

Sage narrowed his eyes as he looked at the card he had just grabbed from the pile. Even though 'Crazy Eights' was a simple game, Robyn seemed especially good at it. He glanced at the redhead across from him, sitting on the floor. She was fighting to keep an impassive face but her eyes were alight with happiness and he knew that she had a good hand.

He then placed the 3 of Hearts on top of the Queen of Hearts, watching as she immediately placed the 3 of Spades on top of his card. Damn, she had two cards left to his five… He was going to lose this round…

"Sage, why do you only play racing games? Like when we're at Kento's or in the arcade?" Robyn suddenly asked.

He glanced at her again as he placed the King of Spades on top of the 3 of Spades before answering. "My father used to take me to the race track when I was younger. When I was fourteen I started racing but my mom wasn't too happy about it. So eventually I stopped going all together."

She placed the King of Diamonds down on the pile; "Really? How long has it been since you've gone?"

"A year or so."

Robyn looked thoughtful as he went to pick up a card and then placed it on top of her King of Diamonds. It was an eight and that meant… "Change to clubs," he said.

A triumphant grin spread across her face as she slapped down her card. It was a damn eight! And it was her last card too… He had lost…

"Not too good at this, huh?" she teased him lightly. Shrugging his shoulders, he picked up the cards and began to shuffle them. "Do you want to do something else?" she asked quietly after a moment.

He raised a brow at her question, "Like what? I'm open for suggestions."

The power had gone out some time ago and they had been entertaining themselves with a deck of playing cards since then. He watched her shrug her shoulders, nibbling on her lower lip as she did so, obviously in thought. "Got any board games?"

"Some old ones from when my sisters and I were younger."

"Like what?"

He motioned towards the small curio chest near the television set. "See for yourself," he said with a slight shrug and watched as she pushed herself off the couch and made her way over to the chest. She was wearing a pair of his sister's lounge pants and a large t-shirt that looked somewhat baggy on her.

Robyn pulled the legs of the pants up slightly as she knelt down in front of the curio chest and undid the latches. Pushing it open she found at least a dozen board games that ranged from being suitable for young toddlers to adults. There was an _old_ game of 'Battleship Galacitca,' which must have belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Date since it was certainly not something from Robyn and Sage's generation.

She shifted a few game boxes around to see what else she could find but looked up at Sage when he spoke.

"Mom tends to be a bit of a pack-rat when it comes to stuff like that. Anything else and she doesn't hesitate to get rid of it."

Robyn smiled and teased, "Some of this stuff is probably a collector's item by now."

The corner of his mouth ticked upwards as he agreed with her and she quickly turned back to the chest as she felt her cheeks grow warm. Good grief! She had never been like _this_ before! First, she had blushed when Shadow had knocked her into him and he'd caught her a week or so ago, which was nothing to get all flustered about since she was a little clumsy at times anyway… Okay, so that had been a pretty compromising position, one of which she rarely found herself in with Sage as her 'rescuer'…

Then she had gotten all flustered when he'd handed her his bathrobe (though he probably hadn't noticed) and told her to go change and take a shower… Then there had been the task of helping him put the groceries away and her losing her balance on the step ladder earlier… And not to mention she had been admiring his rear when she had first arrived and had not realized it until he had called for her to come in and felt her cheeks grow warm at that realization…

It was embarrassing when one realized how often they could get flustered when one was alone with an attractive person of the opposite sex…and she knew from experience that it was quite embarrassing, as well as annoying. She had _never_ been like this before, not with any of the others or anyone from the States! So why was she all of sudden acting like a little school girl with a major crush? Besides, Sage wasn't interested in her that way…at least she didn't think so…

_'And why would he be, pet? You're carrying an evil which he has sworn to protect this world from. How can he even stand to look at you?'_ a dark, sinister voice taunted her. Shaking her head to dispel the voice, she took a silent, deep breath and placed her focus on the task of finding something entertaining. A soft, dark chuckle was all she heard of Totoyami before she forced his presence from her mind. He was getting better at that trick, she realized, and that meant that she would need to speak to Mariko soon. She had begged the older woman not to mention anything of the progression of Totoyami to the guys because graduation had been coming up. Well, that had long since passed and it seemed like she could no longer keep the guys uninformed of the progression…

"Find anything?" Sage's voice asked, effectively drawing her out of her thoughts. Glancing around the curio chest, she smiled and looked over shoulder at the blond young man watching her with a somewhat amused expression. She already had a feeling that he would say 'no' to her first suggestion, but she wanted to see his reaction anyway.

"Hungry Hungry Hippos?" she asked in a hopeful tone. He narrowed his eyes at her and she tried to suppress the giggles that were bubbling to get out.

"Absolutely not. I refuse to play that."

"Aww, come on Sage! It'll be fun!"

"I never liked that game as a child and that opinion has not changed."

"So that's a no?"

"Correct."

"Darn…"

He smirked at her and she grinned back, laughing as she looked back inside the curio chest. "Let's see…Scrabble, Connect Four, Sorry!, Candyland, Shoots and Ladders-ooh! Let's play that!" she happily declared, digging out the box. As she turned back to the couch and placed the game on the coffee table in front of it, she noticed that slight smile on Sage's face. It seemed to be one of contentment… '_Odd,'_ she thought to herself. _'Unless…nah, he doesn't like hanging around me…does he? Guess I'll find out.'_

They had been playing for at least ten minutes when thunder rolled loudly overhead. Robyn watched Sage glance out the window, a frown on his face and she turned her gaze in the same direction. She worried her lower lip as she took a deep breath.

"It's not a normal storm you know…" she whispered, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked at her sharply in surprise, curiosity and suspicion.

"How do you know—"

"Totoyami, remember? That and this is what Arain had wanted to show me. He can manipulate the weather, for the most part…"

"Obviously he tried a bit too hard."

"He's just trying to help."

Sage remained silent, leaning back against the couch with his arms crossed. "I don't trust him," he finally said. Robyn blinked at him in surprise. He didn't trust a little boy? Arain hadn't done anything that she could think of that would cause anyone to not trust him.

Sage seemed to understand her surprise for he then corrected himself. "Jayzen. Something about his aura unnerves me as well as the others. And this little stunt he pulled today doesn't help any, either."

She looked down at her hands, which lay fisted together in her lap. She knew he was right, had known since the moment Jayzen had gotten angry and hit her today. But he had seemed so nice and caring towards her that she had looked past her friends' concern and warnings. She had wanted to believe that the guy had liked her for who she was, had really liked a plain, skinny little nobody…

"I know," she whispered, not looking at Sage. At least he wasn't blowing the whole thing out of proportion like the rest of the guys would when they found out. Oh she had no doubt that Joshua would tell them because Yasalia would have told the soul-gaki, and Cye would never let her out of the house again… Well, maybe the bearer of Torrent wouldn't do something _that_ drastic.

"It's getting late," Sage said after a few moments of silence and Robyn looked up at him in surprise. She was going to be sleeping here? At Sage's house? Oh God, that sounded way too scandalous when she thought about it…

"I'll get you some blankets so you can sleep on the couch. I'm guessing that dad and Satsuki are trying to wait the storm out at the dojo," Sage explained as he pushed himself off of the couch and headed towards the hallway and foyer of the house. She watched him go, blinking as she did so and wondered if this _really_ was a good idea. She would be able to make it to the metro and home with minimal problems…

_'But,'_ she realized as Sage reentered the living room, arms bundled with blankets and a pillow, _'__**He**__ won't let me out of the house with the storm still going.'_ She thanked him, taking the pillow and blankets from him and setting them on the couch. She then moved to clean up the board game that had been abandoned only moments beforehand, asking Sage if his mother was staying at the hospital.

"More than likely. People still try to drive out in this weather as if it were clear skies and sunny," he answered, helping her put away the board game. Robyn turned her attention to the small oil lamp on the coffee table before shifting her gaze at Sage.

"Do you need the lamp to get upstairs?" she asked, watching as he shook his head.

Her brow furrowed at his negative reply. "Are you sure?" she ventured.

"I can see well enough," was he said before moving to leave the room.

"Good night, and Sage," she called, watching as he paused to raise a brow inquiringly at her. "Thank you," she continued softly.

"It's not a problem." And with that, she heard him move up the staircase to the second floor, pausing briefly at the front door, to check the lock was her guess.

A moment later, Robyn found herself alone in the living room of the Date residence, the oil lamp already extinguished. It was a bit foreign to her, but not disturbingly so she realized as she crawled under a thin quilt and curled up on the comfy couch. She had to have been dozing in light sleep for what had to be only a few moments when something awoke her, causing her to jerk up right into a sitting position.

Her breath came out in soft pants as she searched the room with large eyes, looking for something that would be out of the ordinary. When her breathing had slowed and steadied, she took off the glass covering of the oil lamp, grabbed the box of matches, quickly lit one and then lit the lamp. After placing the glass covering over it, she pushed the quilt away from her so as to not get tangled in it and quietly explored the downstairs floor. Glancing at the antique grandfather clock in the hallway as she passed it, Robyn realized that she had actually been dozing for twenty or so minutes. But she quickly turned her thoughts to the task at hand.

She could feel something off about the house but it was hard to say what exactly. After her search of the downstairs turned up fruitless, Robyn found herself at the bottom of the stairs, debating whether or not she should go upstairs, return to the couch or call up to Sage to see if he was awake or not. It would be highly embarrassing to go up and have him find her creeping about upstairs or to have her call out to him like some little child who had had a bad dream. But would he blame her if she was a little paranoid?

Biting her lower lip, Robyn closed her eyes and stretched out her senses, much like she had been secretly practicing with Mariko and Shadow. Her senses brushed across the downstairs floor and found nothing, just like her visual search had. As she tentatively reached upstairs she felt the slight familiarity of Sage's aura…but something was wrong with it. It felt…muted…

Frowning, she opened her eyes and took one slow step up onto the staircase, senses still stretched upward towards the second floor. It was her second slow step up that she felt something change upstairs, a subdued presence flaring wildly as if in warning. That did it. That helped her make her decision.

With sure steps, Robyn softly strode upstairs and paused on the landing to close her eyes and sense out the presence, now having an idea of what she was looking for. The first few rooms were clear of any presence or aura whatsoever; that was, until her senses brushed against one room on the right side of the hallway. She turned the lamp down low, making the hallway even dimmer and Robyn softly gasped at what a difference that had made and at what she could now see.

Down the hall, poking out of a room on the right was a pair of glowing yellow eyes with red pupils. Those eyes belonged to a long muzzle that had its lips pulled back in a snarl to expose long, sharp canine teeth. Saliva was dripping from it jowls as it stared at her; recognition seemed to flash in its eyes and it backed away, disappearing back into the room.

Heartbeat accelerating and breath quickening, Robyn swallowed her fear and moved down to the room the creature had disappeared into. She peeked into the room and glanced about, noting the creature that was crouched by the window, watching her warily. Sage was lying asleep in his bed, tossing and turning once in a while, brows furrowed and a frown on his lips. An expression one normally associated with a nightmare if the wearer was asleep.

Robyn turned her gaze towards the creature and frowned before stepping all the way into the room, pausing to place the oil lamp on Sage's dresser. Her hand was trembling so badly out of fear that she was worried that she might drop it and start a fire. However, she was determined not to let this creature know how frightened she was of its massive form. Good god, why hadn't she realized how large it was before?! Its mass rivaled White Blaze and Shadow! Swallowing nervously, she stopped in the middle of the room as the creature growled at her. It was certainly canine in nature and build but it was anything but canine in looks. Its fur was ratty and hung in tendrils off its body and its pointed ears looked as if it had been bitten through many times, holes apparent.

"What are you?" she whispered, not really wanting to awaken Sage but also out of fear as she stared at the creature. It felt similar to the creatures of nothingness, but only in aura; was it a doppelganger, perhaps?

The creature growled once more, making her tremble slightly and then it stopped. The creature ceased to growl, only staring at her. And then…it _chuckled?_!

_'You're afraid…'_ it taunted, the words echoing across her mind the way Yume's did. Robyn stiffened at that, belatedly wondering if Totoyami was going to taunt her as well. Fortunately, it appeared that he was deep in sleep himself.

"Shouldn't I be?" she asked cautiously. "There's a monster in my friend's room doing only God knows what."

_'__**Dream-eater**__, bitch! Not monster! '__**Monster'**__ is what you pathetic human pups call me.'_

Robyn blinked; "Dream-eater? You mean you eat dreams?"

It chuckled again. _'I'm unimpressed with you, mortal. Highly unimpressed. And to think…a pathetic human like you is to bear a great evil to the realms. He'll win without a doubt if you are to be his competition.'_

She frowned at that. Competition? Was she to actually _fight_ Totoyami? "What do you mean?"

_'Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. You do not even know the prophecies, and you're __**in**__ them.'_

_'Prophecies?'_ she asked herself, her thoughts racing. What was this creature talking about? Prophecies? She would have been told about them if there were any…wouldn't she? _'Oh man, why do I get the feeling I've been suckered?'_

_'Now to be rid of you…'_ the creature growled, crouching even lower to the ground. Robyn quickly backed up a few steps and glanced around her, looking for something to use to defend herself or at least keep the thing at bay.

"Sage," she called somewhat loudly. "Sage, come on, wake up!"

_'He can't hear you…he's trapped in my nightmare…the fear and despair that rolls off of him because of it is so delicious,'_ the creature laughed, lunging at her.

Robyn let out a startled scream and threw an arm up in a vain attempt to block the creature. She was easily knocked to ground and cried out in pain as those sharp teeth she had seen earlier, bit through the flesh, tissue and muscle of her forearm. She cried out again for Sage to wake up, knowing that there was no way she could beat the thing on her own. But the bearer of Halo only tossed and turned more, as if hearing her pleas for help were part of the nightmare he was trapped in.

Blinking back a wave of dizziness caused by the sharp pain in her arm, she moved her legs up underneath the creature and braced her feet up against its ribcage, pushing weakly against it in an attempt to move it off of her. She felt its sinister chuckle beneath her feet and fought the wave of panic it produced.

She didn't know what to do—she didn't know if she should continue to call out to Sage with the slim possibility of him escaping the nightmare—she didn't know if she should call out for anyone and instead let the creature take her. If she did that, then Totoyami couldn't be born, the world wouldn't be threatened, and the guys wouldn't have to fight him… They wouldn't have to fight again because of her……

_'Giving up so soon? What a shame, I was hoping for more of a challenge. But I shouldn't be surprised by your lack of stamina since you __**are**__ just a pathetic human,'_ the creature taunted again. Robyn refused to allow herself to be goaded because of it. _'Maybe I'll actually take him after I dispose of you…his death will last me for at least a week…'_

That got her attention. She glared up at the creature that still held her arm in his jaws, not even realizing that she had been summoning energy as she growled herself in an inhuman manner. "Don't even think about it," she grounded out dangerously, bending her knees and then thrusting them into the creature's ribcage once more. Only this time, the creature was thrown off of her and Robyn cried out in pain again as the teeth that had been embedded deep into her forearm tore through the flesh and muscle.

She briefly glanced at her arm before focusing back on the creature as it stood from where it had been thrown to the floor. It growled ominously at her, crouching again and Robyn readied herself to be thrown backwards again. She was and this time cried out when razor-sharp claws swiped across her stomach and abdomen, leaving long gashes. Looking at her midsection, Robyn gasped as she saw that while she was indeed bleeding, it was not gushing out everywhere, merely clotting and sealing the wounds. A quick glance around the room told her that no blood had touched the carpet of Sage's room.

_'But how…?'_ she asked herself, bewildered at her healing so rapidly.

'_Can't have you dieing, remember? You die, I die with you. I do have some self-preservation instincts, you know_.'

"Totoyami?" she whispered to herself in disbelief. That bastard was actually _helping_ her?!

'_Don't seem so surprised, mother. Like I said, if you die, I die as well_.'

Any retort she was about to make came to a screeching halt as the creature lunged at her again, using her diverted attention as an opening. In a wave of panic, she threw her arms to cross in front of herself, closing her eyes as she waited for claws or teeth to sink into her. There was a bright flash from the other side of her eyelids and she heard a heavy thud. Peeking open one eye, Robyn quickly opened the other one as she stared at the creature that was wobbly trying to stand up from a few feet away. What had happened?

She then felt the thrum of power in the room and went rigid, waiting for some other being to rush out and attack her. But when nothing happened, she slowly probed the thrum of power and found it to be feminine and a balance of some sort… It was neutral… And then a sudden stray thought entered her mind; hadn't Shadow said that her aura now felt somewhat neutral? Like a balance of both light and dark? Could it be that this was _her_ power that was humming and swirling around her and the room?

"No way is this—"

_'So…you're a strong bitch after all…'_ the creature rasped, injured from whatever she had done to him when she'd thrown her arms up and closed her eyes.

"Look, all I want is for you to leave my friends and I alone. Is that so much to ask?" she swallowed, praying that the creature would for some reason do exactly that without a fight.

_'Is that…an order……Dark Mother Empress?'_

Robyn shivered at the title; jeez, Empress she could handle, Mother Empress barely, but _Dark_ Mother Empress? Hell no! Never in a million years would she accept being called that without feeling her skin crawl!

_'Is it?'_ the creature pressured and Robyn looked at it incredulously.

"Don't tell me I simply had to say 'I order you to leave me and my friends alone.' If so, I'm going to be so ticked off."

The creature seemed to almost smirk at her, _'Hardly. You…hadn't shown me…any reason to follow…orders… Now, however…you've shown your right as… alpha female…'_

"_Alpha female?_ That's right, canines have this thing of male and female leaders—wait! Do I _have_ to be alpha female? Can't you just…say I won or something and not give me _that_ title as well?"

_'You are refusing…your leadership…and authority over me?'_

Robyn glanced to her side at the body sprawled on the bed, trapped in a nightmare. "No, I guess not, since I have the feeling that if I did, you wouldn't leave."

_'Quite right… Now…to save him…you must enter his nightmare…'_

"What?!" she squeaked, now looking at the yellow and red feral eyes in shock and disbelief.

_'You have to…bring him back…'_

"How about I just kill you instead. I don't have a problem ridding the world of one of you," she said sarcastically with an undertone of contempt and displeasure.

_'You do…and he dies with me,'_ the creature answered all too calmly.

_'Well, doesn't that just suck? So sorry, pet, but I don't think I can help you anymore. Saving him isn't going to save me, so, have fun watching him suffer,'_ Totoyami's sinister laugh echoed in her mind as he drifted off out of reach.

"Damn you," she growled, clenching her fists. "Damn the both you!" she spat out at the creature. The creature was not the least bit phased by her curse.

_'Astrea…will help you…reach him…'_ the beast rasped out.

"Well, that is all well and good but how on earth do I reach this _Astrea_?" she asked and the moment the words left her mouth, she wished she hadn't uttered them at all. The creature grinned at her as Robyn felt a familiar presence behind her. Turning around she came face to face with Yume, the Dream-bringer's hair as pale as moonlight and skin the color of mocha.

_'Empress…'_ was all Yume whispered across her mind before Robyn felt the Dream-bringer's cold fingers caress the side of her face. Blackness overwhelmed Robyn for a moment and when she blinked to clear it away, she found herself in a void full of mirrors.

"What—what happened? Where am I? Is anyone here?!" she called out, hearing her voice echoing eerily in the void. Silence greeted her, save for the echo of her voice and the faint tapping of…something. As the sound grew louder, Robyn could barely make out the form of another human; the tapping was from the person's boots, Robyn realized and she could now make out the faint clacking of metal.

As the figure grew closer, she could make out a pair of beige trouser, brown boots and a deep purple tunic. A large ring of keys were tied to her trousers and were clanking softly against one of the person's well-rounded hips. Well-rounded? Robyn did a double take and realized with chagrin that this person was indeed a woman. Her dark hair had been braided into cornrows all the way down to the middle of her back and as the woman continued to draw closer, Robyn could see that the woman's ears were pointed.

In fact, the woman reminded Robyn greatly of Yume, only this woman's skin was much darker than the brownish tanned complexion the Dream-bringer had. The woman stopped a few feet in front of her and Robyn found that the woman was also taller than her.

"What business do you have here?" the woman asked dispassionately.

Robyn blinked; "Business? I—I don't know—my friend is stuck in a nightmare and—"

"Have you any experience in astral projecting?" the woman asked in an exasperated manner. Obviously she wasn't pleased with having been disturbed from whatever she had been doing, for she was frowning and stared at Robyn with narrowed eyes.

Robyn stiffened at the tone. Jeez, just because she had no idea how she had gotten here didn't mean that this woman was entitled to treat her like some little child who couldn't comprehend anything. "Are you Astrea?" she asked the woman, noting the surprise on the woman's face. The woman seemed to study her now, looking her over with a critical eye before frowning.

"How did you come to know of my name?"

"Some creature—uh—a dream-eater said you could help me free a friend from his nightmare."

"Are you the Dark Mother Empress the prophecies speak of?"

Again with the whole prophecies thing. She was definitely being kept in the dark about something. "Can you help me?

"You should be more concerned with whether I _will_ help you or not."

Robyn frowned and crossed her arms, "Oh this royally sucks. Where's Mariko when I need her, Hell, I'll even take Shadow or Yume—"

"Yume? Did you say Yume? The Weaver of Dreams?"

"I heard Dream-bringer but I guess it's the same."

"So," the woman began, mimicking Robyn's stance, "my sister helped you find me once she realized that this dream-eater was willing to give up his prey."

Robyn stared at the woman in stunned silence before saying, "Okay, this is so totally _beyond_ bizarre!"

The woman chuckled, "You are as my sister described."

"You're Yume's sister?" Robyn asked somewhat doubtfully. When the woman nodded, Robyn heaved a tired sigh, not knowing how much time she had wasted already. "Will you please help me?"

The woman nodded. "Being courteous does pay off, ne? I am Astrea, the Watchman of the Planes."

And before Robyn could understand the implication of the statement, Astrea had turned away from her. Robyn watched as the woman held up one arm, as if summoning something and in a moment a mirror flew towards them, coming to a halt in front of Astrea. Turning on its axis as it floated in mid-air, the mirror grew larger and larger until it was as tall as Astrea. The woman then turned to her, stepping aside and motioning to the mirror.

"Step through there and you will find the friend you speak of," Astrea explained, bowing at Robyn when she thanked her. "It is always a pleasure to serve the Empress. Do call on me again should you need assistance."

"Thanks…um, how do I get back?" Robyn asked hesitantly as she stepped up to the mirror and brushed her fingers across it. The surface rippled as if it were liquid.

"It will be obvious."

Robyn gave the woman a doubtful look and Astrea chuckled. "It will, believe me," she assured the redhead. Nodding, Robyn pushed against the surface of the glass and felt it give way, as if she were sticking her hand through a thick liquid, like corn syrup or molasses. Taking a deep breath, she stepped all the way through, absently wondering if this was stuff was going to get stuck in her hair.

Once free, she stumbled forward and fell to her knees, one hand flying to her hair, which was perfectly fine, and looked over her shoulder at the way she had just come. Nothing was there. A shiver ran down her spine as she looked around her. Everything was dark and the darkness swirled around her in a threatening manner. She shivered again before standing and moving forward, only to pause when pain-filled screams echoed in the darkness.

She rushed forward but came to a sudden halt a moment later as she saw Sage pounding on some invisible wall, yelling to be let through. The screams continued and Sage's attempts grew more desperate. Robyn had never seen him like this…never had she seen him so—so—emotional. There was a final scream and she watched him drop to his knees in defeat as a charred skeleton appeared out of the blackness. It laid a few yards away from him, the grotesque form frozen in fear and terror.

"Robyn…I'm so sorry," she heard him whisper. She blinked in shock. That skeleton was supposed to be her? This terrible nightmare that he had kept to himself and lost sleep over had been about _her_?!

_'No way! I didn't think he actually cared __**that**__ much about me…'_ she thought to herself as she slowly approached his hunched form. Once behind him, she paused listening to his repeated apologies and laments.

"I'm so sorry…I should have run faster—or tried harder—did _something_…I—I'm so sorry…"

Robyn felt like crying. To see any of them in this much pain…it always brought tears to her eyes, knowing that they had suffered so much already…and would no doubt continue to suffer in the future because of their destiny. She could never really do anything for them and it pained her, knowing that all this time she was causing them pain in some manner. Not too long ago, it was the whole deal with Nago…and now this…

"Sage," she said gently, lightly touching his shoulder. She watched him spin around, disbelief written clearly on his face as he stared at her. Slowly, he shook his head as he stood and hesitantly reached out towards her.

"How?"

"It's okay, Sage. You and the others don't have to take care of _everything all_ the time."

"But you—I couldn't save you—and…"

She smiled at him, "You and the others saved me the day you all fought against Nago for me. The day you all blessed me with your friendship."

He continued to stare at her in disbelief, "You—you did something, didn't you…that's why you're here and this nightmare isn't starting all over again…"

She nodded, wrapping her arms around him. "I should be the one apologizing, Sage. I should have done something about this when I first found out a week or so ago. I'm sorry for having put you through this nightmare for so long."

She had felt his body stiffen the moment her arms had wrapped around him but the tension slowly ebbed away and he tentatively hugged her back. Robyn smiled when she somehow sensed him leaving, drifting back to consciousness. She let go of him and stepped backwards, watching him fade away.

"Robyn?" he called out, worry evident in his voice. It was a clear indication that he was worried that this was turning into some other nightmare.

"It's okay. It'll be fine, I promise," she assured him as his disappeared completely. Taking a deep breath, she looked around herself, sensing the darkness take a less threatening tone. However, when nothing appeared to lead her back, panic began to take in.

"Oh no—no—no—no, I am NOT stuck here in this strange limbo! I can't be! Astrea! Help me! Please!" she cried out in fear. She then felt a presence behind her and before she could turn around, she was shoved forward so hard that she fell forward. Only she didn't connect with the solid ground with a thud like she expected she would. It was more like she had slipped into her body and, with a knee-jerk reaction, opened her eyes to find herself on the floor.

She groggily sat up and looked around her. Sage was awake and sitting upright in his bed, glancing between her and the dream-eater, not knowing whether to jump out of bed and protect her or stay put should any action set the creature off. The creature was watching her intently, which explained Sage's hesitance to move, its yellow and red slitted eyes narrowed and fixated on her every move. As she stared back at it, its lips curled off its fangs in a grin.

"Seems you win Empress," it said aloud, much to Robyn, and no doubt Sage's surprise as well. Robyn then noticed that the creature had already healed itself. "I shall not disturb your pack any longer." She watched as the creature turned towards the window and leaped at it, dissolving into thin air before it reached the panes of glass.

A few moments of silence passed before she heard sheets rustle and the springs of the mattress shift slightly. She shifted her gaze in the direction of the bed and found Sage sitting on the edge of the mattress, almost frowning at her. She hunched her shoulders instinctively at the accusatory look he was giving her.

"What?" she asked plaintively.

"Do not tell me that you fought that thing by yourself."

"Okay…I won't…"

He shook his head, knowing fully well that she had. "How did you..."

"Totoyami…if I die, he dies…"

Sage nodded, still frowning slightly. "And that—thing—what was it?"

"He said he was a dream-eater…I guess he feeds off the emotions of dreams…he said he enjoyed—" she found that she couldn't finish her sentence. She stared up at him helplessly from where she sat on the floor, not sure what to do. Should she just leave and go back downstairs to the couch? Actually, the couch sounded quite inviting.

"I'm so sorry Sage…" she began but stopped when he shook his head and sighed.

"This is the second time I've woken up after a nightmare, only to find that you are in the room, keeping watch over me," he said, a small smile on his tired and weary face. She slowly smiled back at him.

"This mean you're not upset?"

"No, I am upset. I'm upset that you did something so foolish. Did you really think you would stand a chance when you started facing off with that thing?"

"No, but—"

"You could have been killed."

"And you would still be stuck in that nightmare watching me die over and over again!"

His eyes widened at her exclamation, not expecting her to have known about that. "You—you were _really_ there? For you to actually—you _astral projected_ yourself into my nightmare?!" he shouted angrily.

Robyn started in surprise at Sage's show of anger. "I guess I did…" she said, uncertainty evident in her voice.

She watched his hands clench into fists as he tried to calm his anger and speak more calmly towards her, but it wasn't much. "You could have killed yourself! No one should be out of their body for too long when inexperienced and you certainly qualify as inexperienced! Mariko doesn't astral project often and she's better at it than I am! What if you hadn't gotten back? What if you had been stuck outside your body?"

"But I came back! Isn't that enough?" What did he want from her? An apology for helping him? She'd sooner become best friends with Miniko than apologize.

Sage sighed and ran a hand through his tussled blond hair. "Just, promise not to try that again, _ever_."

She smiled, nodding and silently sighing in relief, "I can do that."

"Good."

Robyn slowly stood, muscles bruised and aching as she examined her wounds. _'Nearly healed…what a surprise…Totoyami, you bastard…'_ she directed the thought to the evil thing that was now living in the same body with her but only received that faintest impression of a groggy 'wha? Oh…go away…'

"Robyn…are you all right?"

She tore her gaze from her midriff to look up at Sage. He was eying her critically, more exactly the pink, puckered flesh that was healing on her arm and stomach. She nodded, giving him a lop-sided smile.

"Sorry I ruined your sister's shirt and pants," she apologized, feeling guilty. She doubted that the youngest Date sibling would be highly upset upon losing a pair of old lounge pants and plain t-shirt; but still, what were they going to tell her when she asked about them?

Sage shrugged in response, "Just don't mention it to her. Otherwise, she'll most likely never miss them."

Robyn again nodded, smothering a yawn as exhaustion finally caught up to her. Why was her body feeling so heavy? She couldn't be _that_ tired. Had she used too much energy earlier? She hadn't even known she had used any until she had felt that thrum of power earlier.

"Man, I better go back downstairs before I fall asleep standing up," she muttered, turning to stumble out of Sage's room into the hallway. She braced herself against the wall for a moment when the hallway began to swim.

"Robyn?" She heard him move to stand in the doorway of his room and she glanced back at him, wincing when it only served in making the room swim more.

"I don't feel so good…" she answered softly, leaning against the hallway wall heavily.

"Last time you said that you got sick. Do you need the bathroom?"

"No…I'm just…tired…" The hallway swam again and Robyn noticed that the already dim hallway was growing even dimmer. Was she going to black out? Yeah, it'd figure. What was one more embarrassment added to all the others she'd had that afternoon?

She blinked, now realizing that Sage was guiding her down the hallway slowly. When had he moved to help her? And why were her cheeks growing warm?! Embarrassed, Robyn ducked her head away from Sage. However, that only served to worsen her dizziness.

"Sage," she began, pulling them to a stop near the top of the stairs. She knew he was looking at her but she didn't dare move her head, afraid that she'd blackout. "I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"It's not a problem," he replied in a slightly exasperated tone.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay…'cause I think I'm about to pass out…" she said, starting to feel the oppressive lightheadedness sweep through her. A tell-tell sign that she would black out if she wasn't careful.

"Don't fight it then."

She blinked and accidentally turned her head to look at him incredulously. That was all it took for the dizziness to overtake her. And so she slipped into unconsciousness, hardly aware that Sage had caught her limp form before she fell down the staircase.

* * *

Robyn blinked at the sunlight streaming through the open-blinds of the window caddy-corner of her. She whimpered, closing her eyes again and snuggling under the quilt further, trying to hide from the bright light. She felt so drained, despite having had a deep, peaceful night's sleep.

The unfamiliar giggle had her eyes shooting open under the quilt. Since when did Cye giggle like that? Wait, since when did Cye giggle _period_?! When an unfamiliar baritone voice chastened the owner of the giggle, she realized that she wasn't exactly in Kansas anymore.

Cautiously she poked her head out from under the quilt, blinking owlishly as she stared into a pair of pretty blue eyes. It took a full ten or so seconds for Robyn's brain to register that someone was nearly nose to nose with her and when she did she gave a small shriek, which sounded more like a squawk really, and jerked backwards in surprise. That same giggle from earlier started up again.

Robyn shook her head to try and wake herself up a little more before she examined the person in front of her. It was a young girl, maybe about fifteen or so, with golden curls and pretty sky blue eyes. The girl had her hands clasped behind her back and she wore a sleeveless camisole shirt and linen capris. She was, all in all, cute for her age. And why did Robyn get the impression that she should recognize this girl?

"Satsuki," that baritone voice from earlier again chastised lightly. "What did I say about leaving her be?"

The girl rolled her eyes and grinned down at Robyn from where she was still lying on the couch. Robyn suddenly remembered as the girl's name finally registered. She had come to Sage's home seeking shelter from the storm yesterday afternoon, had played cards with him when the power went out and had slept on the Date's couch. So that meant that this girl standing over her was Sage's younger sister and that the owner of that baritone voice was his father, Mr. Date.

"Oh man, this is embarrassing," Robyn mumbled, wrapping the quilt around her shoulders so that the girl would not see the state of her old clothes. She looked past the girl towards the kitchen table and could barely make out a human body and newspaper, due to the kitchen counter obscuring most of her view. Looking back up at the girl in front of her, Robyn gave a small smile, "Hi, I'm Robyn."

The girl smiled brightly. "I thought so. Sage hardly every mentions anything about school or girlfriends so I figured you were 'that girl.' Mom mentioned that she'd met you and thought you were nice and stuff," the young girl said happily. "So what did you guys do yesterday with the power outage and the house to yourselves?"

Robyn blinked, dumbfounded. "E-e-excuse me?" she finally squeaked out, not liking the implication Sage's sister was making.

"Satsuki," her father said in a warning tone.

"But Dad! I just wanna see if they did anything better than cleaning up the dojo all day!" the younger girl complained. She then turned her attention back towards Robyn. "It was cool for a while, you know, when the power first went out. But then it got boring and there wasn't really anything to do other than practice and you can only do so much in the dark."

"Not true," Mr. Date quipped from behind his newspaper.

"Anyway, when you've been practicing most of the day, it does get a little boring, even if you're supposed to be disciplined and all. So what did you guys do?"

Robyn smiled, understanding that this was just something teenage girls do. Heck, even she and Kami still had conversations like this once in awhile, comparing sob-stories as it were. "Let's see. I got caught in the storm on the way home obviously, and we tried to dry my clothes before the power went out—"

"That reminds me! The powers back on and so when you saw you on the couch, we figured your clothes were still wet. We dried them for you. They're right here," Satsuki interrupted, pointing to the pile of dry clothes on the end of the coffee table. Robyn nodded, thanking her.

The younger girl merely shrugged; "I'm sorry I interrupted. I just didn't want to forget. So what else?"

Apparently, the younger girl was eager to hear details of what her 'quiet, proper, gentlemanly' brother had done. Robyn smiled, laughing softly. "I then helped put groceries away and made a sandwich."

"What kind?"

Robyn laughed, "Nothing fancy; just a peanut butter sandwich."

"Really? No jelly?"

Robyn shook her head, smiling at how frivolous and silly this conversation was becoming. "Nope, I don't like jelly all that much."

"I'll have a PB and J over a plain peanut butter sandwich any day. You gotta have flavor! I mean, sheesh, I'd even take honey if jelly wasn't available."

Robyn gave the girl a curious look, "A peanut butter and honey sandwich?"

Satsuki nodded, "Yeah. There okay, I guess."

"I'll have to try that sometime, just to see if it tastes as odd as it sounds."

"Hey! Do you wanna stay for lunch? It's close to lunch time anyway and we can each have one!" Robyn smiled at the girl's enthusiasm as she turned and asked her father if it was all right for their guest to have lunch with them.

Robyn looked over at the clock; it was a quarter after eleven in the morning, later than she had originally thought. And now that she thought about it, she didn't see Sage anywhere. '_Still asleep probably. He needs it though,'_ she thought to herself. _'I'll have to thank him for carrying me downstairs too. Man, am I ever indebted to him.'_

"I don't want to impose anymore than I already have," Robyn said, gaining both Satsuki and Mr. Date's attention. She heard Mr. Date chuckle from his seat at the table as Satsuki shrugged her shoulders, saying "It's no biggie."

"Still, I feel kind of rude."

"It's not a bother, Robyn. Feel free to join Satsuki for lunch," the older man said and Robyn could hear the smile in his voice. Sage had a really nice family, she concluded.

"So you'll stay then?" Satsuki asked, giving Robyn an almost pleading look.

Laughing, she agreed and laughed even harder as the younger girl did a slight victory dance. "You laugh, but all I had to talk to yesterday was dad!"

Robyn heard Mr. Date's chuckles as Satsuki explained how he just didn't understand most of things that happened at school or whatnot. "Besides," she said, bringing her voice down to a whisper. "I saw this cute guy in class the other day and I can't talk to him-" she pointed at her father, "about it, can I? That'd be way too weird. And I haven't gotten to talk to mom yet either."

Robyn shook her head smiling, "I don't think I'll be much help there, though. I haven't had much luck with guys and dating."

Satsuki shrugged. "Better than nothing though, right? Oh, sorry! You probably want to get changed. The bathroom is the second door on the right down that way."

"Thanks." Robyn reached for her clothes while making sure that Satsuki wouldn't be able to so the ripped shirt and pants, then covered the damaged clothing by hugging her clothes to her stomach.

"Oh! I'll get the sandwiches started while you change!" Sastuki bounced off to the kitchen pantry after having said that, leaving Robyn to slowly make her way to the bathroom to change.

After changing, she looked at her reflection, blinking in surprise and turning her head slightly. There was hardly any discoloration on the side of her face from where Jayzen had hit her, though her cheekbone was sure sore. She hadn't really thought about it when she'd woken up and probably wouldn't have until she had started for home if she hadn't accidentally brushed a hand across the tender area a few moments ago.

Sighing, she clutched the ripped clothing in her arms, wondering what she was going to do about Jayzen. She knew he would probably call and apologize, which was fine and all, but there had been something disturbing about him yesterday. Something…supernatural almost. He had been unnaturally strong, and Robyn was seriously beginning to believe that Joshua and the guys' warnings had been justified. She just didn't want to hear the 'I told you so' lecture…

Not only was she now going to have to figure out excuses to stop seeing Jayzen, she had this whole 'prophecies' thing to deal with too. Who could she ask about 'prophecies'? Well, Mia knew a lot about prophecies…so might Mariko…

'_I'll call Mariko later today,'_ she decided, taking a deep breath and leaving the small bathroom. As she entered the kitchen area, she bumped into a fully-dressed Sage as he came down the stairs and rounded the corner. _'Oh what a great way to start the day,'_ she thought derisively as she felt her cheeks flush and apologized.

Sage merely nodded, steadied her and took the damaged clothes from where she held them bundled in her arms. He moved off towards the laundry room, to hide the clothes or dispose of them, at least that was her guess. Shrugging her shoulders, she entered the kitchen to find Satsuki finishing off the sandwiches and handing her a plate.

"I made you a plain peanut butter just in case you _really_ didn't like the peanut butter and honey one," she explained as Robyn looked curiously at the two sandwiches on her plate compared to the one on Satsuki's. The younger girl had also grabbed a large bag of potato chips.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to. I would have been fine with just the one," Robyn said, placing her plate at the table and sitting down, smiling at Mr. Date when he looked at her.

"I figured, but you are a guest," Satsuki explained, turning to give her older brother a smile when he entered the kitchen. "Good morning! Or should I say afternoon? This is like the latest you've ever slept in!"

Sage threw a critical glance at his younger sister as he poured himself a glass of milk. "Something I don't intend to make a habit of, believe me."

Satsuki turned and whispered to Robyn behind one hand, "He can be so cranky sometimes."

Robyn tried desperately not to laugh aloud as Sage glared at his sister, clearly having heard her, while the girl merely smiled innocently at him.

Sage finally shook his head, leaning against the kitchen counter as he frowned slightly at his sister. "Don't tell me you've been annoying Robyn since you got back," he said in a tone that was a mixture of disapproval and teasing.

"I have not!" Satsuki declared indignantly. "We've been having a very good time, thank you very much."

Sage gave them an all-knowing smirk and said in a patronizing tone to his sister, "I'm sure you have."

Now annoyed with her older brother, Satsuki turned away the table and motioned for Robyn to follow her. "Come on, we'll go upstairs where we can talk in private."

Robyn hesitantly followed, politely excusing herself from the table and thanked Mr. Date for his hospitality. She found Satsuki waiting for her at the foot of the staircase, and to her surprise, the girl blew a raspberry at Sage before she clambered up the stairs. Robyn climbed the staircase in a more sedate manner, not wanting to slip and fall, and smiled when Satsuki led her to a room on the left side of the hallway.

"Sorry," the younger girl apologized as she picked up a few clothes that had been carelessly discarded on the floor. "It's a little messy. I normally clean it up if I expect someone to come over."

Robyn shook her head, "It's not that bad. And I have seen _much_ worse. Trust me." The younger girl laughed, agreeing with her as she plopped down on the floor and motioned for Robyn to do the same while she opened the bag of potato chips and placed a handful on her plate. Robyn had just sat down when Satsuki slapped a hand over her forehead, saying that she had completely forgotten about drinks.

After that, the day went by somewhat pleasantly. Robyn spent time with Satsuki, indulging the younger girl with companionship for an hour or so, but she finally excused herself, explaining how she really needed to get back home before Cye came and dragged her back. That got a laugh out of both Satsuki and Mr. Date, who wished her well.

To Robyn's surprise, she found Sage waiting at the front door and as she went through the doorway, she heard him say to his father that he was going to meet the guys at Cye's house. Robyn gave him a pouting look as he joined her on the sidewalk; "They're going to bug me about where I was yesterday."

"Don't worry about it."

"You really won't tell them will you?"

"If they ask, I'll tell them what I told Cye."

"Thank you."

Silence fell among the two as they made their way to the Mouri house. The sun was shinning brightly with hardly a cloud in the sky, which was a drastic contrast to the storm late yesterday afternoon. Robyn glanced at Sage from the corner of her eye, before thanking him again for all that he had done for her. He simply nodded, looking at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the sidewalk in front of them.

"Sage…do you know if Mariko or Mia know anything about prophecies that talk about Totoyami?" she asked after a few moments of silence. From the corner of her eye, she saw his stance stiffen slightly and he seemed cautious as he asked her why.

"That dream-eater last night mentioned prophecies, and then when I went to the astral plain and spoke to Astrea," she paused seeing his doubtful look. "Don't look at me like that," she huffed, crossing her arms. "She said she was the keeper or watchperson of the planes or something like that. Anyway! She mentioned something about prophecies too. So, I'm wondering if we're missing something important. That's all."

"We'll call Mariko when we get to Cye's. It's about time she started explaining those 'poems' of hers," was all he said and Robyn understood that he didn't want to discuss the matter of prophecies until then. Worrying her lower lip, she idly wondered why Sage hadn't said anything about these 'poems.' Had he thought that that was all they had been?

With a sigh, she walked next to the blonde kendo warrior in silence for a long while. Finally, she broke it again. "Your family was really nice, considering I stayed there the night and they'd never met me before. Your sister was fun too."

He was silent for a moment, as if thinking of how to approach the topic. '_And end it quickly'_ she thought teasingly.

"Satsuki is the nice one of the two."

"You mean, compared to your older sister?"

"There is no comparison. Satsuki is the nice one. Yayoi is…" he trailed off slightly.

Robyn smiled slightly, remembering that night she had been at Rowen's place studying and Sage came over to hide from his older sister, more or less. "Perfectly mean? Evil? Devious?" Robyn provided, giving him a knowing smile. Sage chuckled slightly at that, obviously remembering too as he nodded in agreement.

Robyn's smile grew wider when she remembered something from last night, and was able to get Sage talking about car racing. As he explained some of the rules about racing, Robyn felt like the bond of friendship between them grow a little bit stronger.


	18. I Choose My Own Way

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Seventeen: I Choose My Own Way

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_Black and blue I chose my way  
I, the candid castaway  
In a way delayed by one more broken season  
To find reason for appeasing you and_

_So I found my guiding light  
Lamp and flashing red and white  
Through a starry night I'm better nowhere-bound  
Than boundin' on your solid ground_

**Anna Nalick - "Satellite"**

* * *

Robyn watched as Cye again glanced at his blond friend accusingly as they waited for the last few members of their group to arrive at the Mouri Residence. Sage had been absolutely silent as to what these 'poems' contained, only saying that Mariko should be the one to explain them.

"How long until they get here?" Kento asked, slumping further into the couch next to her. She shook her head, slouching with him and curling somewhat into his warmth. Despite the sleep she had gotten earlier, Robyn still felt slightly drained and exhausted as the day wore on. She wasn't going to become one of those lazy pregnant women, was she? Wait a sec! When had she actually come to think of her condition as a pregnancy?

"Soon," answered Rowen, arms crossed and a pensive look in his face. The bearer of Strata was obviously distracted since he had yet to make any wisecracks about her 'shelter' the previous night. And she was not about to invoke them either.

"How long did you know, Sage?" Cye questioned, fixing the blond young man with a frown. The bearer of Halo was not fazed in the least as he continued to lean against one of the walls in the living room of the Mouri's home. Robyn frowned again. What was with Cye today?

"Man, you seem ready to tear into anyone who looks at you cross-eyed," she said from her spot between Kento and the couch. She could feel all eyes on her now and she grimaced, sensing the uneasy tension that continued to cling around them. "I mean, it's not like he kept it from us on purpose. The moment Sage realized that it was important, he said something. What's the big deal with that?"

She watched as a somewhat guilty expression stole over her childhood friend's face, before he muttered an abashed, heartfelt apology. Sage merely nodded, continuing to brood and wait in silence for the arrival of Ryo and the twins.

"So what are we gonna do once we figure out what these things are?" Kento asked. Rowen and Cye shrugged their shoulders but the latter looked towards the door when the doorbell rang. Robyn watched from her little burrow as the bearer of Torrent went to answer the door. She heard him greet Ryo and the twins, though somewhat stiffly as he addressed the latter two. She blinked as they came in and Ryo came to settle on the couch next to her, placing her between him and Kento.

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Squish me to death, why don't you," she grumbled at Ryo, sticking her tongue out at him. Ryo responded by squishing her even more, a playful smile on his face. She squeaked in protest and finally enlisted Kento's help.

"Kento! Make him stop!" she whined and to her surprise, the bearer of Hardrock denied her plea. He shrugged his shoulders and turned a blind eye, although she did catch his smile so she knew he was playing along. With a grunt she used Kento has a springboard and pushed against Ryo. It wasn't working. With a pout, she turned pleading eyes on Kento.

Kento finally obliged and shoved Ryo, causing the bearer of Wildfire to release his captive momentarily; however, he then moved to shove Kento back. Kento retaliated and Robyn soon found herself in the middle of a childish "don't touch me-but you touched me first" battle. She struggled to push the two apart, muttering idle threats as she did so. "Come on already! I don't like being monkey in the middle!" she griped as she finally succeeded in pulling the two apart somehow.

"If you three are quite finished, we can begin," said Mariko in a no-nonsense tone. Robyn gave the older woman an odd look, trying to understand why she was so serious. It was as if someone had died or something. Were these poems really that bad?

Robyn felt her breath catch in her throat. This meeting no longer put her at ease and she could feel the tension in the room grow even stronger. There was going to be a free-for-all in no time if these "poems" were that bad. And then who was going to stop the boys? Heaven knew that the twins would be no match for all five of them and since when did the guys actually listen to _her_ and do what she told them to?

"So, what are these poems and what do they have to do with Robyn?" Cye asked, giving the eldest twin an accusing look. Robyn sighed, knowing that he was entitled to be upset. They all were entitled…but still…

"A set of three and they're prophecies, not poems."

Silence hung in the air for a moment before one of the guys repeated in a questioning tone, "Prophecies?"

Mariko nodded her head solemnly. "They are prophecies that have been in the Netherworld Temple for ages. I stumbled across them when I returned to retrieve the last of my valuables. Kayura had requested my help in the library and while helping her search for some scrolls, I came across these. Neither of us knew what to make of them, especially when I was the only one who could break the seal."

"Seal? You mean that someone had sealed those away? And you broke the seal? How do you know that by opening the seal, you didn't ensure that these prophecies would come true?" Rowen inquired, eyeing Mariko accusingly. Robyn bit her lower lip, wondering if that were possible. Rowen _was_ the "smart one" of the five, so what he said would have some possibilities of truth to it. Had Mariko unintentionally put these past events in motion by opening the seal?

A small frown tugged at Cody's lips as she crossed her arms. "Do you _know_ what a prophecy is?" she asked, her tone clear that she was not trying to insult them. Rowen still glared at her as if she had indeed insulted him. She ignored the look however, and continued. "A prophecy states an event or chain of events that _will_ occur no matter what the circumstance. These events cannot be stopped or altered in a major way. A prophecy merely allows one to prepare."

"Meaning…" Kento drawled, giving the younger woman a slightly confused look.

"My sister did not cause these things to happen to Robyn," she stated. "They would have happened anyway and none of us would know what was going on if she hadn't tried to decipher them."

"But why bother with them in the first place?" Ryo asked. "If you couldn't read them to begin with then what made them so important? Aside from being sealed, I mean…"

Mariko took a deep breath as she pondered how to answer. "My armor," she finally decided on, somehow knowing that the five boys would understand what she meant. "There was something about them that drew my armor's attention. And now having deciphered them, I understand why. I play a major role towards the end of this whole ordeal; one of which I am ready to meet."

"So what do these _prophecies_ say exactly?" Cye asked with a look of concern on his face as he glanced at Robyn. Robyn smiled at him reassuringly, hoping that this whole situation was not turning out as bad as it sounded.

"The first prophecy speaks of the Mother Empress," Mariko explained.

"What about her?" questioned Kento, not understanding how that was important and nor did Robyn. Why merely talk about the woman? How was that going to help their situation any?

"It describes her. Her looks, her desire and her soul are what the first prophecy speaks of."

"And what exactly does it say?" pressed Ryo. "Don't leave anything out. We want to know _exactly_ what to expect, got it? This whole mystery stuff you've been pulling is not helping, despite what you think." Robyn blinked in surprise at Ryo as his fists clenched in annoyance. She was finding it a little difficult to understand their feelings. She simply took things in stride and if she didn't know something because no one would tell her, no matter how much nagging she did, then she simply accepted it.

'_But they're not like that,_' she reminded herself as she looked around the room, seeing that the other four boys were in agreement with Ryo. '_They __**need**__ to know what's going on…or they feel helpless…_'

Mariko's face turned to one of annoyance and displeasure and she threw a dark look at her younger sibling. The younger woman visibly backed away and held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Neeeeee, onee-san… It wasn't _exactly_ my fault…" the younger woman whined, a look of fear and dread flitting across her face momentarily.

"It was too! You knew I was doing some important work on that computer! But no. You just _had_ to let Matt use _my_ laptop and download that virus," Mariko hissed, fists clenching at her sides. This was the first time any of them had seen the older woman so upset and it seemed very likely that she would exact some bodily harm to her beloved sister too.

Cody looked incensed at that and straightened to her full height, "Hey! It's not like either of us did it intentionally! How was he to know that document his summer teacher sent him had a virus in it?"

"So, wait…what exactly happened?" Kento butted in, growing confused like everyone else in the room who was not involved in the current argument.

Mariko took a deep breath and turned to face them once more, casting one last dark look at her baby sister. "All the translations for the prophecies were on my computer, which just so happened to get a virus the other day thanks to certain members of my household—"

"I said it wasn't our fault!"

"—and now the hard drive is completely and utterly scrambled. There's no way to reassemble it."

Silence permeated in the room for a good few minutes before Sage spoke. "Well, isn't that convenient."

Cody wore a look of surprise and Mariko merely rolled her eyes at the accusation, as if she had expected that type of reaction from the bearer of Halo. Robyn looked just as surprised as Cody and nearly jumped from the couch as she spoke in defense of the twins. "Oh come on! You really think that that was all intentional? Give me a break! They have only two computers in that small apartment, you know!"

"And just how do _you_ know this?" Sage asked her. Robyn's countenance quickly changed to one of a person being caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar. A nervous laugh escaped her and she sunk back into her little burrow, hoping the Ronins on either side of her would defend her. She looked to either of them and saw that they were curious as well. Ah damn…

"Because…I've been there…before?"

"When?" Cye asked, trying to remember when she had been gone long enough to have visited the twins. With an internal sigh of defeat, he realized that there were a few opportunities for her to have disappeared to the twins' apartment. Robyn shrugged from her spot, her attitude hinting that it really didn't matter.

"I don't know, after graduation, I think…"

Mariko cleared her throat, "It was after graduation, yes. And if you all are still interested, I do remember most of what the prophecies spoke of."

"Right. Let's hear it then," Ryo encouraged, the others nodding in agreement. "You said the first one just talked about her?"

Mariko nodded, "Yes, it described her appearance for the most part."

"Then why is it important if all it does is describe her?" Rowen asked, brow furrowed in thought.

"It was a way to figure out _who_ the empress was and as we now know, it's Robyn. And it spoke of warriors that would fight for her, so those warriors must be you five."

"So, how's that important?"

Cody rolled her eyes, "First step to solving this was figuring out who it was. With a description, we figured it out to be Robyn…albeit it took us awhile but still, we put two and two together. After we knew it was her, we paid more attention to keeping her safe."

"What about the other two?" Robyn ventured from her spot between Ryo and Kento. So the first one wasn't that big of a deal. She could live with that; it was the other ones that she was slightly afraid of. Prophecies usually meant something horrible was going to happen…didn't they?

Mariko began to look somewhat uncomfortable as she shifted her weight to her other foot. "The second prophecy focuses on the fate of the Mother Empress and the ordeal she must face in the Nether Realm. The third focuses on the Mother Empress seeking to reclaim the throne and the battle that will occur because of it."

Cody sighed aloud as she too shifted her weight to the other foot. "We suspect that Dragon will have some sort of coup d' etat in the Netherworld, so as soon as the next Gate becomes available, I'll be gathering our army."

"Army? Just how large is this battle supposed to be?" Sage questioned, throwing a somewhat dark look at the twins.

"The army will be dealing with the Nether Soldiers, which will allow us to focus on Dragon and the Dark Emperor."

"So there's no way that we can get rid of this guy beforehand, huh?" Kento asked. Silence fell around them for what seemed to be the longest minute in Robyn's mind. The lack of an immediate answer or solution told her that the other occupants felt guilty for having let the situation even happen. Yet from the sound of it, this was what Fate had intended. Damn Fate… she thought discontentedly.

"No…he has to be born. It says so in the second prophecy and she is to fight him, as stated in the third," Cody supplied as she finally sat Indian-style on the floor, chin resting in one hand. "Which royally sucks if you ask me, but I think we all agree on that aspect, ne?"

"And the third prophecy speaks of a friend who will betray Robyn—a seeming friend, and while the betrayel may come as a shock to you, Robyn, you need to keep your mind on track. The dangers will be great and someone will die when we reach the Nether Realm. You must fight with all the courage you have in your hearts and Robyn; you _must_ accept your fate, because if you don't…then everything we've done up 'til now, will have been for naught."

"What do mean someone's going to die?" Robyn questioned, her stomach rolling with unease. Sure she wasn't keen on accepting this position of authority, but the thought of someone dieing because of her? She didn't know if she could live with that… Why was it that death always seemed to be around her? It was as if death was a constant companion in some manner and it only made her feel worse and more of a burden. The guys had to deal with all of this because of her, because she just had to run back to Japan and hide behind Cye like she had when they were younger, despite Cye's distaste for fighting.

"It is none of you, so don't worry about it. What you should be worrying about is what you're going to do once you get to the Nether Realm," Mariko explained, her tone proclaiming that she would not reveal whose life was in question. Robyn frowned at that and was about to press the issue when Ryo beat her to it. Or more accurately, Ryo's temper beat her to it.

"So what if it's not one of us! If we can keep whoever it is from dieing then we should know!" he shouted, fists clenched and a deep frown on his face. Silence followed his exclamation as the other Ronins awaited her answer, including Cody. Apparently the eldest twin had kept the death completely to herself.

After a moment's deliberation, Mariko finally sighed heavily and stared at the floor. She did not meet anyone's gaze as she repeated a few lines she had obviously memorized from the second prophecy. "A feather to ash, tattered and torn. No rebirth, hope now gone astray; in empress mother our hope now lay. My armor is the Phoenix—a bird…that feather is me."

Robyn blinked in surprise at this quiet admission before shifting her gaze to focus on the younger of the twins. Cody's face held shock, worry and anger—all emotions that the redhead could understand and sympathize with. Turning her eyes away from Cody, she looked at each boy in turn, noting the looks of surprise on each face. They had not expected it to be her apparently but then, nor had Robyn. Mariko was one of those people who one could never really see them dieing from _any_ cause. She had that feel of immortality about her and the wisdom she possessed astounded those she met; it was indeed shocking to remember that she could die just like everyone else.

"Wait, I thought that phoenixes could be resurrected. You can too, right? Didn't you say something like that?" Rowen questioned, frowning slightly when Mariko nodded affirmatively in answer. "So why are you making it seem like such a big deal if you can come back?"

"You're not going to let it," Cody intoned in an emotionless manner. "You're going to refuse whatever life-force is offered to you, aren't you."

Mariko sighed heavily, not in aggravation or disappointment but out of exhaustion. "I'm tired. Time in the Nether Realm is greatly different than time in this realm. While I was _technically_ born nineteen years ago, I have had at least a century's worth of hardships on the _soul_. I'm also tired of dieing and then shortening someone else's life just to return to the plane of the living.

"Taking a life-force is a terrible thing to do, even if it's just a little. It weighs on the heart and soul more than anything could really. Killing someone is even harder when you have a heart like all of yours—even yours Cody, despite you being a Bounty Hunter. I was trained to kill without second thoughts—by Talpa no less— but you all…you weren't trained or created for that purpose. You were meant to protect…and to live."

"Then _we'll_ protect _you_ and keep _you_ _alive_," Ryo argued, looking at the older woman with determination. "That's what we do. That's what being a Ronin Warrior is all about."

"Surely _you_ know that," Sage implied, giving Mariko a hard, knowing look to which she averted her eyes and looked to the floor.

"It's not impossible," Kento offered with his usual grin on his face in an attempt to ease the dreariness of the conversation.

"I know that but, once this is over, I don't think I will be _able_ to come back. Phoenix may leave me instead of bringing me back. If she follows the prophecy, then there will be no way to bring me back to life. Even the great Mother Empress did not have the power to bring people back from the dead."

"So that's it? You're just going to leave it at that?" Rowen asked, a look of surprise on his face. They all had a look of surprise on their faces and Robyn realized that they and Mariko would never see eye-to-eye on this subject. The boys _never_ just 'gave up' and she knew that no amount of reasoning would change their minds. They were going to do all they could to keep Mariko alive…

"You coward," hissed Cody from where she sat on the floor. "You're just going to give up like that? All those people who gave you their life-force did it willingly! You should not feel guilty about it! You're just too cowardly to go on living once your revenge on Dragon is complete!"

Mariko's posture stiffened at the comment and she met her sister's smoldering gaze. "Do not bring him into this. He has nothing to do—"

"He has _everything_ to do with this! You just want to go back to Julien and the only way to do that is through death! You're a goddamn coward!"

"When you know of love, you may speak to me about this subject again. But I will _not_ stand here and listen to you preach about something you know **nothing** about!"

"I know enough about it to see that you're a coward and that you're going to abandon Matt and Joshua and me!"

"Now is not the time for one of your tantrums, imouto," Mariko warned, letting it be known to her younger sibling that she _was_ still in charge. Cody let out a strangled scream of frustration before calling her sub-armor and disappearing through the floor. Robyn stared in shock at the spot the youngest twin had occupied only moments before and tried to justify what had happened.

"I apologize for her behavior," Mariko softly apologized, drawing their attention back to her. She was not meeting any of their gazes and Robyn worried her lower lip in anxiety. This meeting was just going from bad to worse in no time flat.

"This is really hard on her…isn't it…" Rowen said, a look of sympathy crossing his face. The elder twin nodded and heaved a heavy sigh.

"She's…afraid…I'm all she has left of our original family and to her, I'm the glue that holds our current little _family_ together. She's simply afraid."

"It's understandable," came the comment from Sage as he looked out the window near his position, a slight frown on his face. "And you shouldn't blame yourself for it."

Mariko laughed nervously at that. "Yeah…but that happens when you take on the role of mother. But anyway! Enough of that! Any questions?" They all could tell that the older woman was uncomfortable speaking about such personal matters and Robyn idly wondered if it was because she didn't know how life was going to be after all of this. She really was a mother…

"Is she gonna be alright though?" Kento questioned and Mariko was silent for a moment as she seriously contemplated her answer.

"She and I will have a talk later this evening. She needs to remember that something like this would have happened sooner or later. And it's for a good cause," she explained, her eyes shifting to the floor. "And I know from your expressions that you all are going to try and keep me from dieing. So I ask you, don't."

"But that's absurd!" Cye argued, glaring at Mariko. "Why are you asking us to just let you die?!"

"Because as a Ronin Warrior it is my duty and honor to sacrifice myself for the sake of peace, in this realm or in the Nether Realm. You would do the same and you know it."

Robyn was somewhat amazed at how solemn each young man looked as they recognized that Mariko's words rang true. And at the same time, she was filled with fear. Knowing that they would hold no qualms in sacrificing themselves for the safety of the world… She shivered involuntarily and dug deeper into her burrow of warmth in the couch, allowing Ryo and Kento's presence to ease her fears ever so slightly. She didn't want to think about…she really didn't…

"All right…What's the third one?" Sage questioned, redirecting everyone's attention back to the issue at hand. Always the voice of reason, she mused silently before paying attention to Mariko as she restated the prophecy as best she could.

Mariko's gaze fell to the floor in discomfort, biting her lower lip. "The powers of the Mother Empress will be awakened. Upon her awakening, she will fight Totoyami in a battle of epic proportions. She will fight him for the security of this realm—all realms actually and something will happen… There's the danger of the soul being lost. I haven't figured out how yet, but I just know that it's possible. Trust in your heart and things should work out."

Silence followed for a few minutes. "So it doesn't say who will win?"

Mariko shook her head, "No, but that works to our advantage. It means that we can start preparing Robyn for this war."

That had all of them staring at the eldest twin in shock. A flurry of protests quickly followed after their initial shock, save for Robyn. Amazing how _her_ safety had quickly shoved Mariko's eminent death from the forefront of their minds… It almost made her sick…

"You can't be serious!" Ryo shouted in anger, nearly leaping from his seat on the couch.

"Look. She's the Mother Empress, the Mother Empress is supposed to fight Totoyami."

"We'll fight him instead," Rowen reasoned.

"Yeah, we can kick his butt no problem!" Kento enthused, a confident and reassuring grin on his face. Mariko sighed and gave them an unconvinced look.

"Hate to break your images of ya, but Totoyami is gonna wipe the floors with you." She crossed her arms, noting the displeased looks on the boys and girl before her. "Totoyami is supposed to be stronger than Talpa."

"So?"

"It is said, that Totoyami is the son of Talpa."

"Son?! That's just—just—gross!"

She gave Kento a look that said he was going in the wrong direction with his train of thought. "Uh…not quite that kind of son. In cases like these, you don't have to have sex to beget a child. I mean, Robyn is a perfect example here. She didn't have sex and yet Totoyami is growing inside of her, plus she's not even showing signs of carrying him."

Robyn shifted uneasily at being used as an example, even though what the older woman was saying made sense. Wait, how did she know about Totoyami anyway? "Hey, how do you know so much about Totoyami? Was he mentioned in the prophecies or something?"

Mariko shook her head, green bangs falling into her eyes with the movement. "No. Totoyami was actually mentioned in separate documents, of which I have researched prior to all of this happening. It was only recently that I was able to connect the pieces. Totoyami is created from the power of two beings, hence the idea of him being a son, and he was to be carried by the Mother Empress, hence again the idea of "son." The two beings are ones whom you all are acquainted with, obviously."

"Yeah. How could we ever forget Talpa," came the cynical remark from Ryo.

"Huh-uh…and Nago."

"WHAT?!" Robyn couldn't hold back her shriek of surprise. She stared at Mariko as if she had grown two other heads, wings and a tail. There was no WAY that that was possible! From what she'd known, Talpa and Nago had occupied different realms and had had no correlations with each other. Now she was being told that Nago had in fact known Talpa and had even struck up some deal with him? Impossible! "You're kidding right? You gotta be! Kortez never even mentioned Talpa!"

"That is because that little twit of a sorcerer didn't know about the bargain. This pact was made just after the two had murdered the original Mother Empress. The clan of the Ancient Ones had bestowed the Mother Empress with the gift of reincarnation, as it was all they could do at the time of her death. Knowing that her rebirth would ruin both their plans for taking over realms, they struck an agreement. Nago would try to devour the soul first, using the void in that soul for his entrance into the Mortal Realm… And as a fail-safe for the take-over failing, Talpa entrusted the death of the reincarnation's body to his—their creation…Totoyami. That is why I say, the five of you can NOT defeat him. Totoyami was made to fight on par with the Mother Empress."

"Whoa…that's pretty thought-out… Are you sure it was Talpa?" Kento asked, a slightly disbelieving look on his face. Rowen chuckled softly at that and shook his head, silently agreeing with Kento's comment. Talpa had always been over-confident to the point that it had led to his downfall.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"So Robyn _has_ to fight this guy?" Sage questioned, a frown on his face. "That's not much of an incentive for us to allow it."

Mariko gave him a frown of her own, "Well, it doesn't matter if you will allow it, Sage. It's going to happen regardless. Once Totoyami is born, he's going to seek out Robyn and destroy her, whether she _tries_ to fight him or not."

"But there must be something we can do," protested Cye, hands clenching into fists where the rested upon his knees. A frown was also on his face and he was looking at the older woman in such a pleading manner that she could not continue meeting his gaze.

"I'm sorry…I don't know anything else… This—this is as far as I can go… This is all the knowledge I have on this at present," the green-haired woman intoned, eyes closed in regret and sympathy.

Robyn stared at her fists that lay clenching in her lap, her brows furrowed in thought as she realized that there really was no way that she could escape this. This was her destiny…and she was hating it at the moment for having involved the boys in something that should have been hers to deal with alone. Her cowardice had caused them to be involved, placing their lives in jeopardy.

"How long do we have before we need to go?" Robyn finally voiced, cutting the silence that had settled around them momentarily. No one knew what else to say or suggest. There were no more alternatives to consider…and it frightened her.

The boys stared at her as if she had gone crazy and maybe she had, but she ignored that, fixing her green gaze on Mariko's ice blue one. Contrary to popular belief, Robyn was not stupid, and she knew that there was so much riding on her victory. Peace for one thing and the lives of people in both realms as another. No, she needed to prepare for this. It seemed that it was her turn to be the Hero and she would _not_ fail.

"She's not going," Cye stated suddenly, his tone deadly calm and even. Robyn looked at him in slight surprise, but more at the tone than the words. He was trying to keep his anger and anxiety in check, this she could see, but his tone—she had never heard him speak like that ever.

Saying words she never thought she would say, and in a tone that was so resolute that she was shaking on the inside from the implications of it all, "I _will_ go. There's more at stake than just me. I have been selfish, hiding and turning a blind eye towards what's happening. I won't be selfish any longer. It is my duty and my destiny."

And she stood from her spot on the couch, her gaze once again fixed on Mariko. "Can we talk upstairs?" she asked somewhat softly of the older woman, not wanting to see the shocked and worried expressions on her friends' faces right now. Mariko merely nodded and moved to follow Robyn as she headed upstairs.

Having said those words was making Robyn uneasy. Her whole life she had fought against the belief that things were preordained or that there was some path that everyone followed to reach a destination. She had fought against it because she had not wanted to believe that her whole mess of a life was because of _**Destiny**_. Her parents, her moving away, her horrid luck with Foster Parents, being ostracized by her peers, Jason, Nago—_especially_ Nago—it left a bitter taste in her mouth just thinking that that was _**Fate**_ and _**Destiny**_.

'_Get a grip, girl! Take it in stride! Breath and take it in stride!_' she silently repeated to herself, trying to keep herself from having a nervous breakdown. Although, she reasoned that she had to be entitled to a nervous breakdown by now.

Taking things in stride was not new to Robyn and in all honesty, she was more comfortable in meeting each day without any knowledge of what it held for her. She had done that for the majority of her life with her constant change of Foster Parents, and it had become almost second nature. It was one of the reasons why people tended to find her blunt and random. She stated it as she saw it. Plain and simple.

To her, it seemed useless and a waste of time and energy to plan things in such detail. No one could expect each event to occur exactly as they plan it to, or the consequences to be exactly as expected. Life was too unpredictable. Expect it to be unpredictable and you're safe. At least, that was how she had reasoned it to be all those years ago…

Having a plan of action or guidelines was a security—a security that one became so dependent upon that _independent_ thought became frightening. She always frowned when she met people who had become so dependent on guidelines, conformity and consistency, but at the same time she envied them. They were given the chance to have some sort of consistency and stability in their life to bring them comfort. The only consistency she had been given was that of having the unpredictable happen and trouble nipping at her heels wherever she went. That was her consistency…and her curse…

Robyn reached her room and pushed the slightly ajar door completely open. "Take a seat on the bed," she said amiably, not bothering to apologize for the slightly messy appearance of the room. Various articles of clothing were strewn across the floor—a pair of beat-up jeans folded in a haphazard manner, a couple of screen-printed shirts in a colorful pile near the jeans, and one worn sneaker by the door with its mate peaking out from underneath the bed. The bed was most notably the cleanest aspect of the whole room. The sheets were pulled up and folded properly and the pillows had been arranged in such a manner that they could only be termed as "decorative."

"Uhhh," murmured Mariko as she slowly stepped into the room and glanced over its contents. Robyn shifted her feet in self-consciousness. She was not used to having another woman examining her room. She usually spent the nights over at her friends' houses so they rarely saw the state at which her room spent the majority of its time in, and the only other woman who ever went in her room was Mrs. Mouri.

Robyn's back stiffened a moment later and she looked off to one of the walls of the room, sniffing defiantly; "Excuse the mess."

Mariko turned to give her a curious look before noticing that the redhead had straightened to her full height and was looking away. "Ah! Gomen ne [sorry]! I didn't mean that! Well, actually I kinda did but—" the short-haired woman babbled, trying to salvage the situation, which Robyn believed did not even _need_ salvaging. So she wasn't a neat freak, big deal?

"Don't worry about it," the redhead said with a wave of her hand. She then flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. She had asked the older woman to come upstairs to talk but in truth, she had wanted to run away again. She had wanted to run away form the expressions on the boys' faces. She knew that they would never understand her need or desire to keep them as uninvolved in her life as possible right now. They had such big hearts that they wanted to help if they could and Robyn was not sure if she could stand to see them hurt again.

"So, you're in temporary hiding, huh? Can't say I really blame you," Mariko commented, arms folded across her chest as she meandered around the room, looking at various items and photos Robyn had displayed. Robyn blinked at the choice of words Mariko had used, though her gaze did not drift away from her oh-so-interesting ceiling. Hiding, huh? Well, she supposed that it was fairly accurate in its definition but…

She sighed aloud and growled in frustration at the same time, hating how this had all become so damn complicated and confusing. Why couldn't she just go to this Nether Realm and like, flip a switch or lock some gate for eternity? No, nothing could ever be _that_ easy in life…but wasn't that why people appreciated the less difficult things in life?

_'It truly is all about balance, isn't it? This whole good and bad thing—it's all about harmony and balance,'_ she silently thought, that old realization of hers becoming even more true and predominant. Despite the realization and knowing that she should be comforted by it, Robyn grabbed a nearby pillow, placed it over her face and let out a scream of frustration into its cotton, feathered, padded mass.

"I'll take that as a yes," Mariko chuckled, pausing in her trek around the room to look at a picture with more scrutiny. Robyn glanced at the other woman briefly from under the pillow before shoving it back to its rightful place, an errant thought running through her mind as she watched the older woman. Was it really worth it?

"Is it really worth it?" she asked softly, causing the woman to start at the redhead's voice. Mariko raised an inquisitive eyebrow and placed the picture back onto the bookshelf she was standing in front of.

"This whole battle thing? I think it is, but I'm not the one who has the weight of the world on her shoulders. I cannot tell you what it will be like if you win—"

"_**If?!**_" Robyn blanched as she squeaked it out, her whole body shaking slightly with the thought that Mariko did not believe in her enough to say 'when.' Oh, the older woman knew how to give a _great_ pep-talk.

"—for I can't tell the future like some. That gift was never bestowed upon me. Seeing is truly rare in this world and even in the Nether Realm. A true Seer is coveted in the Nether Realm, while those here scoff at them. I'm afraid that my usefulness has reached its end in that manner. I cannot tell you what to expect nor can I tell you what you should be feeling."

"Seeing? You mean Fortune Telling?"

Mariko nodded her head; "Yup! Yasalia's not too bad at it and I've met a few who _truly_ have the gift. Why? Don't tell me you're one of those who doesn't believe it's possible."

"_So, you don't think a person is capable of reading the future in a deck of cards?_"

"_No, I don't…_"

Robyn blinked at the sudden memory, a troubled time in her life that she had shoved, like much her childhood in the States, to the farthest recesses of her mind. It was the voice of a young man whom she had never conversed with before that one day and the odd little reassurance he had given her in regards to her run of bad luck. Why was she remembering this so suddenly? What could have possibly triggered it?

"I don't…I don't know anymore," Robyn said truthfully, knowing that with everything that was going on, the thought of someone being able to read the future did not seem as farfetched as it had all those years ago when she had spoken with the boy.

Mariko cleared her throat to gain her attention and Robyn blinked up at the woman in surprise.

"Now, you want to explain to me why Yasalia called my cell phone yesterday in a fit trying to find out where you were?"

Robyn grimaced at that and lightly brushed her hand across her cheek, feeling it twinge slightly in pain at the contact. Again, she had forgotten all about that and in truth did not want to recount it _again_. She had already told Sage all about the incident and that had been just plain awkward, considering that he usually showed the least amount of concern for her. "It was nothing really…"

"Don't lie to me."

With a pout and a heavy sigh, she crossed her arms. Geez, Mariko really had that whole mother's instinct thing down. "Fine. I stopped by the store because Arain was so excited to show me this new trick of his and while I was there, Jayzen showed up. He got pissed off, we exchanged words and then he swung at me. Arain and Yasalia distracted him long enough for me to run out of the store and get away. End of story."

"And where did you stay last night?"

A blush crept up her face unbidden and she clenched her jaw in stubbornness. She didn't have to answer if she didn't want to. Or so she told herself over and over as Mariko watched her curiously.

Mariko saw the blush and raised an inquisitive brow. "A certain blonde's perhaps?"

Robyn resisted the urge to sit up in surprise. How had she known?! How?! In an effort to retain some shred of dignity, she said what she should have said in the first place. "None of your business."

The knowing chuckle was her downfall. "Ah…so it was."

Robyn pouted.

"All right…I'll stop teasing you… His place was the closest when the storm hit then?"

Sighing, Robyn nodded, suspecting that if she didn't fess up, Mariko would continue to badger her…or worse—come to her own conclusions. Yes, she _definitely_ had the whole "mother" thing down… "Sorta. Rowen's was closer but he wasn't home. Sage was next in being closest…"

"And you told him what happened?"

"I kinda had to…"

"And his reaction?"

Robyn frowned, "What do you mean?"

"He was displeased with Jayzen?"

"Uh…yeah…not that I blame him."

"I see," Mariko said as she ran the story over in her head once more. She had dropped the teasing attitude, being patient and serious as she continued with the questioning. It was difficult to say what Mariko thought of it all since the older woman was keeping her face schooled into an expression of neutrality now, but Robyn could only assume that she was displeased with the event. Who wouldn't be? It was almost ironic in Robyn's mind now that the danger was not looming over her; she always seemed to choose the wrong type of guy, or more accurately, allowed herself to be swayed by the wrong type of guy. Joshua had been right when he'd asked her that question a few weeks ago—or was it a month now?—about if she were letting Jayzen's words of praise cloud her judgment, and in retrospect, she knew she had.

"So, what do you plan to do about him?" Mariko asked her after a few moments of silence and Robyn frowned slightly in thought. She wasn't entirely sure _what_ she was going to do about the young man. She wanted to give him a second chance but she knew deep down that this would only happen again, and Robyn was not the type to stay with a guy who hit her. And there had been something strangely off about him when he'd lost his temper yesterday.

"I don't know…" she said honestly but shrugged her shoulders half-heartedly, giving off the air that she didn't care too much about the subject. She heard the other woman sigh heavily in slight frustration.

"I keep forgetting that you guys are still kids," Mariko muttered under breath, not intending for Robyn to have heard it but still unremorseful when she realized the redhead had. "He's probably not the type to just give up on you. He knows your number, where you live, where you go to school, what universities you are planning to attend… Robyn, he could very easily turn into a dangerous, obsessive stalker."

Robyn's eyes widened at the truth of Mariko's words and bit her lower lip in worry. What the Hell was she going to do?! She couldn't bring Cye's mom into her mess of a life any further than the mother already was! What could she do to keep everyone safe? "Oh god…"

"Calm down," Mariko advised. "You've got enough on your platter as is. Just wait and see what happens. I could be wrong and he may leave you alone after he realizes that you're not going to tolerate him being abusive. Men like that don't like to stay with women who fight back or have as strong of a defense as you."

"Defense?" she blinked dubiously.

"Your boys."

"Oh…yeah…"

"Anyway, if he doesn't stop bugging you, you can always file for a restraining order."

Robyn frowned at that; as if she could afford that anyway. "I don't think that's going to happen. I can't afford a lawyer anyway so—"

"You go to the police, file a report and appeal for an order."

Robyn blinked at the simplicity of the older woman's answer. "It's that simple?"

Mariko nodded, smiling reassuringly. "You can wait as long as you like, you know."

"I know," Robyn sighed, looking up at the ceiling with a frown. Nothing could ever be easy for her, could it? She sighed again, legs dangling off the side of the bed and her hands folded atop her stomach. "Not like it will matter really. I probably won't survive this anyway, right?"

"You want me to lie?"

"Yes."

"All right. You'll survive, kick that bastard's ass all the way to the ends of the universe, come home and eat a gallon of ice cream in celebration of a job well done. Then you'll win the lottery and take a vacation to Las Vegas, where you'll blow all that money you won at the slots and tables."

Robyn felt the giggles build up inside her at the comment—more at the ice cream and Las Vegas part than anything else—and she finally laughed aloud. Well, the woman knew how to lighten a situation somewhat.

Mariko was silent for a moment before she reclined backwards on the bed, her legs dangling over the edge like Robyn's. Robyn could not help but smile at the understanding nature of the older woman. She always seemed to provide some slight ray of hope…

"This blows, you know," Robyn said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled around them. "I feel like I'm always putting them in danger or that I'm always causing them trouble, and in a way I do. I'm an inconvenience to them…"

"I'm sure they don't see it that way, Robyn."

"Maybe not, but it's true. And what I said down there…there's more to it than me taking responsibility. I want to protect them, like they've protected me, you know?"

Mariko was silent, also staring at the ceiling. "It is understandable…and admirable of you to feel that way. But you also must realize that by being a Ronin Warrior, there will always be danger and trouble. That is part of the job description and they know it, even if they don't like it."

"_**I**_ certainly don't like it…"

"Hai [yes]…but you don't fear this battle as much now, do you? Knowing that you are protecting them makes it easier to face, ne?"

Robyn's brow furrowed as she contemplated this, somewhat seeing what the older woman was getting at. "Sort of. Even though I'm scared shit-less, I still want to do this…"

"You're still going to face it."

"Yeah…"

"I have no doubts that they feel the same way."

"I guess you're right… Still isn't fair though."

Mariko heaved a heavy, defeated sigh in agreement. "Life rarely is, but it makes wonderful moments and memories worthwhile."

They once again laid in silence, staring up at the off-white ceiling of Robyn's room, both lost in their own thoughts. How long had it been since she had had a person sit and just listen to her problems, fears and wants without real judgment? Robyn could not say, but she was thankful that Mariko held no qualms in doing such a simple thing as listening. It made everything seem that much easier to bear, and that was what Robyn truly needed right now. Not to be coddled and protected, or to be coming up with some strategy and training schedule…but to be understood and told that what she wanted to do was not wrong but right.

The sun was sinking lower, growing closer to the horizon when Mariko shifted from her spot and sat up. Robyn blinked out of her stupor and looked at the older woman curiously. Mariko smiled reassuringly, explaining that she needed to head home and make sure her "family" didn't order pizza again for dinner. Robyn laughed at that and couldn't help saying that she really was a "mommy" when Mariko mentioned carrots for a vegetable with dinner. The green-haired woman chuckled, standing and stretching her arms behind her back as she popped her spine back into place.

As the two walked downstairs, they found the guys still conversing in the living room, although all conversation stopped the moment their presence was known. The boys tried to look innocent, but only a few of them were succeeding; Ryo could never lie and she could tell by the nervous smile on his face that they had been talking about her…or something that involved her. Oh, like _that_ didn't scream suspicious…

Inwardly, she wanted to sigh and roll her eyes in exasperation but outwardly, opted to give them an unconvinced look. Mariko waved good-bye to them, saying that if they wanted to meet somewhere tomorrow, then she would bring the scrolls that the prophecies were written in and they could pour over it to their hearts content. Rowen and Ryo immediately agreed and Sage merely nodded, wanting to gain as much knowledge on what was going to happen.

"Well, I'll see you all some time tomorrow then," Mariko said in that congenial manner of hers. "I'll call tomorrow morning to set up a time."

Robyn nodded and the two of them walked to the front door. She absently noted that all of the guys had not moved, opting to watch and wait. She sighed and shook her head. She was so tired of all of this. Why couldn't she have been born normal or something?

"You'll be fine," was all Mariko said before she left the front step and headed to her red pick-up truck. Robyn gave a feeble smile to the woman and waved as she drove off. She watched the truck go down the road until it disappeared around a turn some 100 yards away.

* * *

"We need to keep Jayzen away from her."

The comment caught the attention of the other four occupants, the tone implying that the speaker was absolutely serious in his assessment. Most nodded in agreement, but Cye questioned the reasoning behind the "decision," knowing very well that Robyn would be upset with them if they started to forcibly keep them apart. But it didn't mean that he _didn't_ agree with his friends.

"Not that I like the guy, but Robyn is not going to be happy about us getting involved."

"Yeah but…something about him is…" Ryo protested, his voice trailing off as he tried to think of the proper description for the dark, uncomfortable aura that normally radiated from the man in question. The others nodded in agreement, however, understanding what Ryo was trying to say. There _was_ something disturbing about the man, but none of them could place their finger on what, save for one.

Sage had to bite his tongue to keep from revealing Robyn's secret. She had entrusted him with the whole truth and under normal circumstances he would not have cared much about keeping it from the others, but this time... This time, the look of fear and worry in her eyes had bothered him greatly. She was usually strong, undaunted by simple fears and he had never suspected that she would fear their reactions more than the man who had hit her.

It was not her normal behavior in his opinion and it had definitely made him realize how much all of their friendship meant to her. She was willing to solve the problem on her own than risk their involvement and losing them over a guy. Like she could get rid of them all that easily anyway… But he had promised not to say anything. Oh, how he wished he had not given his word now…

"Yeah, but…keeping her from him is so much easier said than done," Rowen commented, frowning in thought.

"You know, if you're going to talk about my life, the least you could do is include me," came the unexpected suggestion from the doorway of the living room. All heads turned to the redhead who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and an unimpressed look on her face. At least three of the boys looked away guiltily.

With a huff of indignation, she moved to flop down on the floor by Cye's feet, a small frown of concentration on her face. "And for your information…I _won't_ be seeing Jayzen anymore."

"Why?" Kento asked, giving her a confused look. She stared at the carpet, knowing that they deserved to be told and slightly cursing Sage for keeping his promise. She didn't _really_ want to be the one who told them but she supposed that she could omit certain details if she wanted.

She shrugged her shoulders. "He did something I didn't like," she hedged, hoping that she wouldn't have to tell them that the guy had hit her. They would go through the roof if they found out!

"What'd he do?" Ryo asked her curiously and she continued to stare at the carpet.

Well, she should have known better. Nothing was ever easy for her. "He…hit me…" she said softly, waiting for the "boom" to be lowered.

"Hit as in—"

"He's got a pretty good right hook," she answered, giving them a humorless chuckle as she massaged the slightly tender spot of her jaw.

Ryo and Kento both shot off the couch in shock and anger. "What?!" they both yelled in unison. She gave them a bland look, expression telling them that they had heard her correctly. Rowen asked when it had happened and Cye asked her why she had not mentioned it earlier. She shrugged in response, which did not please _any_ of them.

"Man, wait until I get my hands on that guy," Kento muttered, cracking his knuckles. Ryo's fists were clenched so tightly that the skin over his knuckles was white, and there was the darkest scowl on his face that Robyn had ever seen.

She smiled at them reassuringly, "It's okay, really. You don't have to get involved. It's something I can easily handle."

"And if he tries it again?" Rowen questioned, his voice laced with anger as well.

"_Then_ you can rough him up," she teased, hoping to somewhat mollify her protective friends. "Seriously, I'm not worried about this. Mariko thinks he won't bother trying anything else, and I think she's right."

Her reasons were slightly vague but she was not showing any signs of being as afraid as she had been when she'd shown up at his place last night. She was brushing it off, Sage realized and he wasn't too sure if he was okay with that. The others seemed to be unhappily letting the subject drop and he did as well, but it didn't sit well with him. Regardless of whether she was okay now, she had been afraid last night and he remembered the fear in her eyes quite clearly as she had told him what had happened.

No, he was not happy about the situation at all and he was not going to be so _civil_ if he and Jayzen ever crossed paths in the future. What he had done was unacceptable and Sage was going to make it clear to the man that Robyn had friends who would not sit back silently when she was being hurt.

"Hey, why don't we rent some movies or something?" Robyn suggested, only too eager to leave the subject of Jayzen behind her. Ryo, Kento and Rowen readily agreed, which left Cye and Sage to go along or be outnumbered. They went along.

* * *

It was early morning and try as she might, she could not fall asleep again. One would think that staring at the shadows on your ceiling for an hour would make you sleepy… but no, not her. She was still wired from all the events that had taken place in the last two days...added onto that, she was starting to feel a little sick to her stomach again…

Taking a deep breath in hopes of calming her nerves and stomach, she frowned up at the ceiling and wondered how her life had gotten so damn complicated again. She had hoped that with Nago gone, she would be able to have some semblance of a normal life. But of course, how normal could your life be when your best friend had a mystical armor? Worse yet, how normal were you when your soul was partly empty?

Her stomach churned and she rolled over in bed from the discomfort, a whimper escaping her as she did so. Reflexively, she curled herself into a ball and stared at the bookshelf across from her, not really seeing the books and odds and ends. The shadows crawling along the walls of her room were reminding her of the reason she'd jolted awake so early in the morning. The light patter of rain on the windowpanes had surrounded her room in a dull hum, which was probably what had triggered her nightmare to begin with.

She could still feel the cold marble she'd been placed on, her body loosely wrapped in a white cloth that clashed with the dark decorum of the room she'd been in. The chanting had resounded in her ears much louder than she'd originally remembered and the words were crisper and clearer than before. She remembered the fear that had run through her entire being, making it shake uncontrollably; and she remembered the pain. Oh how she remembered the pain…

It was difficult to describe it, which was one reason she had said nothing of that night to anyone. How could they understand when she couldn't even explain it? Something warm and flexible had been laid atop her stomach, a hand if she had to guess since she couldn't quite remember. She'd been too busy retching at that point to pay any real attention. And then the hand had left her, lifting upward before slamming back down on her abdomen with a force that was beyond humanly capable.

And that was when the pain had really started, the pain the she couldn't quite describe accurately in words. It was like having the worst cramps of her life, times a hundred, or as if her stomach was trying to tear itself into a million little pieces. She had vaguely wondered if the feeling had been similar to rape; but then she'd felt the pain in her soul, and had known that it was nothing like rape. Nothing could have prepared her for the utter desperation and the need to get away, to lose herself in the deepest recess of her mind in order to forget the pain and the world around her.

And then everything had turned to black, and she'd found herself floating in a dark mass of nothingness. She'd been relieved at first, for she had felt nothing—no pain, no sorrow, no desperation, nothing. But soon enough, the void had left her feeling out of place and unneeded, as if someone was already there to take care of what the void needed.

A child's giggle had made her realize that she indeed was not alone.

A boy stood in front of her, a boy who was no more than five years old. He was a cute boy, with dark hair and even darker eyes. The smile on his face was not what she would have expected to see on a child though. No, it was the smile of someone…evil. A sociopath maybe…

"Who are you?" she asked him. The boy continued to smile maliciously at her but kept silent, giving her a look that said she should know.

Unnerved, she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and took a single step forward. "Who are you? Where are we? Do you know what's going on?"

The boy's image shifted, and a man stood in his place. His dark hair was long and straight, flowing down his back as if it were silk. His eyes were colder than the boy's, and they held a glint of malevolent intent; but it was still the same person, the man had been the boy only a moment before, this she could tell somehow.

A wicked grin spread across his lips and suddenly his hand shot towards her, gripping the front of her kimono. When had she been placed in a kimono? Her eyes widened in surprise and he jerked her towards him until they were nose to nose. The words that left his mouth had her trembling from the inside out.

"Hello, _Mother_."

Her body jerked as her eyes flew open, her body covered in a light sheen of sweat. Glancing around her, she assessed that she was in her room once more and that she was safe. Ironically, she'd fallen asleep while thinking of the very thing that continually woke her up in a cold sweat. Her stomach and abdomen were cramping now, as if she were on her cycle, and the throbbing ache in her lower back was starting to bother her. So with a groan of defeat, she hefted herself up and out of bed to head downstairs. She needed an Advil or something…

All was quiet as she headed downstairs, but of course it would be. It was freaking three in the morning. No sane person would be up at that hour. And she would be going right back to bed the moment she got some Advil in her. Or so she thought…

"Hey, what are you doing up?" a voice quietly asked her as she attempted to stealthily make her way to the kitchen. She paused and blinked, looking in the direction of the voice. Rowen was staring at her curiously from the kitchen table.

Well, Rowen didn't count as a sane person to begin with…

"I need an Advil," she told him truthfully, hoping that he would let her go back to bed quickly if she didn't skirt around the issue.

Concern flashed across his face at her statement and he quietly stood from his chair as she reached the cabinet with all the medicine. He stopped about a foot away from her but did nothing else, as if he were unsure of what to do. She sighed as she pulled the Advil bottle from the cabinet, opened it and pulled out a single tablet. One would be enough. She wasn't in _that_ much pain.

"So…what's wrong?" he finally asked her and she gave him a bland look before replacing the bottle in the cabinet and heading to the fridge for a drink. While Cye could take his pills without any liquid, _she_ could not.

"You don't want to know," she answered with a sigh of exhaustion. She quickly grabbed a water bottle, uncapped it and swallowed her pill. She glanced over her shoulder at Rowen when the young man remained silent. It was a bit strange for him to not make a retort, especially since it was a good opening.

His dark look was not something she was expecting and she froze in place, not really knowing what to do. She'd never really witnessed Rowen's temper, but knowing her guys, it was probably not a pretty sight. Why was he mad anyway? What right did he have to be mad at her?

"Actually, Robyn… I _do_ want to know. We all do, but you won't tell us anything," he began, voice quiet but firm. "How are we supposed to help you, huh? We don't mind helping you, really we don't. But you gotta help us out too. You gotta tell us what's bugging you. Even if all we can do is listen so that you feel better, then we want to do it."

She shook her head in weariness, "That's not it, Rowen. That's not why I keep things to myself."

"Then why? Something minor, we don't mind letting it go, but something like this… This isn't something you should keep to yourself. You know that."

"I can't… I can't tell you guys," she stuttered, screwing the cap back onto her water bottle.

"Why?" he pressured, crossing his arms and giving her a look that said he wasn't going to let her get away from this subject. She dropped her water bottle onto the kitchen counter, giving him an unpleased look.

"I just can't. Believe me, if I felt I could tell you guys, I would."

"No good. Try again," he said, his mouth quirking upward slightly at her growl of frustration.

"Why are you being a pain about this?!" she hissed at him, keeping her voice low so that she didn't wake anyone in the other room.

"Why can't you tell us?"

"Because!"

"Because what?"

"Because I just can't!" she cried out in desperation, wanting to get away from where this conversation was headed.

"Why?"

"I don't know, okay? I don't—I don't know how…" she finally admitted, her voice cracking at the end, but her volume still low enough not to disturb the others. She wanted to tell them, she honestly did, but she just didn't know how. It was so hard to describe and she was so tired of pity, and she was afraid that they would pity her. And they would feel guilty. That was the last thing she wanted for them. It was her screw-up for not fighting hard enough, not theirs.

"What don't you know?" Rowen asked her gently and moving closer to her as tears began to well up and fall.

"I don't know," she whimpered softly, furiously wiping the tears from her face. They were quickly replaced with more though and she wiped the new ones away too, ignoring Rowen as he came to stand next to her. "I don't know how to tell you—I don't know how—I can't—I can't describe it."

A hand fell onto her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze; "You can't describe what?"

"The ceremony…when they did _this_ to me," she half-sobbed, hitting her stomach for emphasis and not caring if it hurt or not. Her stomach tightened slightly at the unexpected action and she could feel Totoyami stir in the back of her mind. She quickly forced him back into his slumber not wanting _anything_ to do with him right then. He mumbled something to her and allowed himself to fall dormant again, but she hardly noticed it as she realized that she had let slip what she had tried so hard to keep quiet.

She turned away from Rowen then and moved to go back upstairs but he lightly grabbed her shoulders, effectively stopping her. She swallowed the sobs that were now trying to make their way out. Why was she crying like this? When did she lose so much of her resolve not to cry about this?

"It's okay," he told her, and she rounded on him, eyes wide.

"Okay? Okay?! How is it okay?! I was scared! I couldn't move! I couldn't do anything but scream! It hurt so bad! It hurt so bad that I just wanted it to stop!" she cried softly to him, balling up her fists in frustration and defeat.

"But they didn't and we didn't get there soon enough. We're so sorry, Robyn," Rowen soothed, or tried to since she was too riled to be calm now.

"They didn't…and I was so scared… And it hurt. And I didn't want it! I don't want it, Rowen! I just want to be left alone! I don't want anything supernatural or magical to involve me! Not like this! I don't want it!" she sobbed, allowing him to pull her to him for a hug.

"I know…and we're sorry," he apologized, holding her as she gripped his t-shirt and cried. He had known that it wouldn't take much to get her to confess. They could all see how taut her restrain had been growing. It was only a matter of time before she finally broke-down. He just helped it along a little. And now that he knew what she was keeping to herself…

"I didn't want it… I didn't want it to be like this," she cried into his chest, allowing him to comfort her. And he held her, knowing that it was all he could do for her right then.

"Everything okay?" a sleepy but concerned voice asked.

Rowen looked up at the half-awake countenance of Cye who was making his way over to them. He gave his friend a lop-sided grin.

"Yeah, she just finally cracked," he replied. Cye blinked at him a few times before frowning.

"What?"

"She finally broke down and told me what she's been hiding."

"Oh," was all Cye said, knowing that Rowen would tell them in the morning, if Robyn herself didn't. He placed a hand on top of the messy, red mop of hair that was his friend and began to run his fingers through it. It was a soothing motion and eventually her sobs subsided to hiccups.

She pulled away from Rowen just enough to look at Cye over her shoulder. He smiled at her, that same smile he had given her all those years ago when they'd been kids. It was that same smile that told her things would work out somehow and that he would be there for, always. She smiled back at him.

"You ready to go back to bed now?" he asked, "Or do I need to make you something to drink?"

She timidly shook her head, knowing that the Advil she'd taken would be enough to knock her back to sleep. "No…I'm fine."

"You sure?" Rowen asked her and again she nodded.

"Yeah. But…" she trailed off, looking away for a moment and biting her lip. Cye recognized the gesture and chuckled.

"I'll get another pillow," he answered and left the kitchen to head upstairs for said object.

Robyn pulled away from Rowen and clasped her hands in front of her, slightly embarrassed. "Um…thanks…I didn't mean to—"

"I don't mind, and know the others don't," he answered, cutting her off with a reassuring grin. "Don't be afraid to tell us anything, even if you don't know how."

"Okay," she acquiesced, looking at the floor and feeling very much like a child. 'Which is totally stupid since it's Rowen we're talking about,' she mentally told herself, trying to get over her embarrassment for getting so emotional.

"Well…maybe not everything. There are some things I really don't want to know about, like…like…" he said, trying to think of an example.

"Like sex and periods?" she supplied automatically, not even having to give much thought to her answer. Well that showed that she was feeling back to normal.

Rowen made a face and nodded, "Yeah…like that…"

She giggled and smiled innocently at Cye as he returned. He gave the two of them a suspicious look and Robyn shook her head. "This time, you _really_ don't want to know."

Cye looked to Rowen for confirmation and with a look of queasiness, the blue-haired youth nodded. "She's right; you really don't want to know about this one."

With a shake of the head, the bearer of Torrent motioned for them to follow him to the living room. Robyn did so, feeling as if some weight had been lifted off of her chest and she felt relieved. Some of the strain was gone now that she had blabbed things to Rowen, and strangely, she felt better now.

"Here," Cye informed her, shifting his blankets over and dropping her pillow near his. She smiled gratefully and plopped down on the floor, pulling the blanket partially over her since she would be sharing it with him. As Cye lay down next to her, Robyn watched as Rowen moved to his own sleeping space and stretched himself out on the floor and blankets.

Her gaze wandered over to the people asleep on the floor and as she took in each peaceful expression, she smiled again. She felt safe here, safer than she had upstairs despite knowing that they weren't far away. Secure in the knowledge that she was indeed safe now, she easily fell into a deep sleep, where no nightmares or memories could reach her. She didn't even recall when her eyes had originally slipped shut, nor the gentle brush of hair from her face as Cye whispered "good night."


	19. In the Red

Vamps and Ronins

**Chapter Eighteen**: In the Red

Written by: Tiasha

* * *

_I am fading in and out  
What are you gonna do to save me now  
From all of this danger you don't know how  
I'll find my way out  
When I'm in the red  
Listening to strangers inside my head  
The darkening angels beneath the bed  
I still see what you said_

_What are you gonna do  
No way for you to save me  
What are you gonna do  
Everything that you gave me  
Is painted in red_

**"Red" by Sara Bareilles**

* * *

"We need to move _now_," her companion whispered in her ear, their close proximity doing nothing for her anxiety. She nodded her head, eyes trained on the shadow before her as he slowly snaked his head around the corner to see if anyone was coming. She also felt his sub-armor pulse twice, as if he were searching through the shadows in the catacombs for enemies.

After a moment, he lifted a hand and waved for her to move. She did so, her steps light and soundless as she darted past him and down the corridor. Her hands twitched at her sides, ready to grab her weapons should she need them. All was eerily quiet in the corridor and she slowed to a stop as she neared a corner, her back against the wall. She felt a body stop behind her, leaning against the wall next to her as she strained to hear anything out of the ordinary.

Again her companion leaned down to her, whispering in her ear; "There are four just ahead." She again nodded, taking a soft, deep breath.

"Leave it to me," she felt him whisper but she ignored him, pushing away from the wall and turning the corner before he could move. He hissed her name, but she ignored that too, eyes now trained on the four soldiers in front of her as she walked towards them.

*Halt!* one said to her, his spirit only capable of psychic speech. Her eyes narrowed as the Dynasty soldiers brandished their spears at her. How foolish. She knew all their moves inside and out, and they were threatening _her_? Her lips quirked upward in a confident smile as she continued towards them, eyes still narrowed and calculating each move they made.

*I said, Halt!*

"You really think you can best me?" she asked, her voice drifting on the air around them as if it were a haunting melody. At their hesitant step backwards, she increased her pace, now running at them and her hands quickly moved to grasp the hilts of the two swords at her back.

Before the four could even call for reinforcement, her blades had penetrated their armor and gray smoke spilled forth from the holes in the ghastly green armor. The spirits quickly returned from whence they came on the smoke tendrils, and she did not pay them a second glance. Instead she sheathed her weapons and glared at her companion as he rounded the corner and grabbed her arm somewhat roughly.

"_Don't_ do that again," he growled at her and she yanked her arm free.

"I'll do what I have to do, and you would have done the same thing I did. I just got to doing it first," she replied scathingly, not allowing his hard eyes to intimidate her. After all, none of the warlords intimidated her; they never had, and that was why they had despised her…in the beginning at least.

"Kayura…" he growled in warning but quickly thought better of it, his armor picking up on more soldiers heading to where they had just come from. With a frown, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway, her easily keeping pace with him.

"We need to—" she began but was cut off.

"I know!" he snapped, his frustration at their situation becoming evident in his tone, "we need to regroup and figure out what's going on."

"It's a coup, that's what," Kayura replied haughtily, ignoring the dark look her companion sent her.

"That's _not_ what I meant."

"Well, you did say—"

"Kayura, so help me, if you start pulling this shit again—now of all times, I'll—"

"You'll what, Cale?" she retorted, calling his bluff.

"I'll leave you here to fend for yourself, which considering how rusty you've gotten—"

"Oh, bite me," she quipped.

"Don't tempt me," he answered in a non-amused tone.

She couldn't keep the satisfied smile from creeping onto her face; sometimes it was too easy to tease them. Her smile quickly fell though when the warlord skidded to a stop and pulled her against the wall next to him with a soft, but painful thud. She whimpered and pouted the rough-handling she was getting. Honestly, she could have stopped in time, no need to throw her against the wall.

"Dais and Sehkmet are heading to the grotto, that much I can tell, but it's just as slow for them as it has been for us," he told her, tone serious and face troubled.

"It figures," she answered just as seriously, no hint of teasing or condescending in her voice at all now. "This Dragon really _did_ stage an effective coup d'etat. But regardless of that, we need to hurry."

"I know; the whole realm is at stake."

"Not just ours, _all_ the realms, Cale. If Totoyami wins, we're _all_ doomed."

* * *

"Hey, you know what we should do…" came Kento's 'plotting' voice and she could only imagine who he was plotting with; but she just KNEW that it was _her_ he was plotting against. She could just sense it…

A frown pulled at her face as she burrowed deeper into the lightweight quilt and wondered if this was a sign that she should just sleep the day away. At the continued murmurs of plotting, she realized that, yes it probably was a sign. But sleeping would not protect her from whatever Kento had planned. Well, she'd better put a stop to it before it got too out of hand.

"Don't even—" her grumble was cut off when something cold and wet was placed against the exposed portion of her neck. With a squeal of surprise, she shot up from her spot on the floor to glare at Kento and Ryo, who were both smiling at her cheekily. In Kento's hand sat the culprit of the coldness and wetness: an ice cube.

"Heh. Good Morning Sunshine!" Kento teased with that cheeky smile still on his face.

"Morning, Robyn!" Ryo sang, as if he'd had no part in the wake-up call, which she knew he had because he wasn't hiding it very well. His happy mood was grating on her nerves ever so slightly. Her good morning mood was seemingly far from obtainable thanks to those smiling idiots and she spotted Sage rolling his eyes at their method of waking everyone else up.

A quick glance at Rowen told her that a mere ice cube was not going to get him up. There was a small wet spot on his neck that was dripping onto the pillow below, making it look like he'd drooled or something. With a sigh, she put as bright of a smile as she could on her face and greeted them good morning. They took it as a peace offering. The sorry saps. Payback was only fair, right?

Taking advantage of their inattention, she grabbed the ice cube from Kento's hand and shoved it down the back of Ryo's shirt; since Kento had already started moving to grab it back from her, placing it down _his_ shirt would not be a good tactical decision. Or so she would say when asked for an explanation…if she survived _their_ payback, that is.

Ryo's startled yelp was her cue to run for it. And run she did, leaping up from the blankets on the floor and squeezing between the two boys as she dashed for the kitchen. Hopefully Cye would offer her sanctuary and/or amnesty, since he would inevitably be drawn into it…

"I can't get it out!" came Ryo's plea for help. Robyn just snickered and ran behind Cye as he blinked at her and the pursuing bearer of Hardrock in mild surprise.

She stayed hidden behind him as Kento continued to advance towards her, not seeming to care if his friend was in the way or not. She peeked over Cye's shoulder just in time to see Ryo enter the kitchen with a pout on his face, clearly unhappy that Robyn had shoved the ice down _his_ shirt and not Kento's. With a muffled squeak, she ducked back down and tried to think of a way to escape to the safety of either her room or the bathroom.

"Robyn," Ryo said, still giving her a pout, "that was mean! I wasn't even the one who did it!"

"What?! You little snitch! You were all for it a moment ago!" Kento shouted and turned, pulling Ryo into a headlock.

Robyn smiled at her luck, muttering that she was going to take advantage of the opening. As she peeked over Cye's shoulder one more time, she felt something thick and wet plop onto her nose. She blinked a few times before her brain registered that Cye had indeed swiped pancake batter onto her nose and had _intentionally_ done it. And he gave her an innocent smile too. Innocent her butt.

"Cye!" she cried out in mock anger, reaching for a dish towel to wipe her nose with. Kento and Ryo looked up from their wrestling to see what had happened and started laughing as Robyn began wiping the batter from her face.

"Good one, Cye!" Kento laughed, giving his friend a thumbs up.

The bearer of Torrent just shrugged before turning to look at the pouty redhead behind him. "Why don't you go change?" he suggested, innocent smile still on his face.

Robyn nodded, taking in the fact that aside from her and Rowen (who was still asleep), everyone else was dressed for the day.

"Fine," she agreed, dropping the dish towel on the counter and dashing out of the kitchen and up the stairs before Kento could come up with any other "bright ideas."

Robyn had just finished getting ready for the day and was heading down the stairs when the phone rang, and she heard Mrs. Mouri answer it. Not thinking much of it, she continued on her way, heading down the stairs and had just turned to go to the kitchen when Mrs. Mouri called to her from the pottery room.

"Yeah?" Robyn questioned, entering the room that used to be part of the garage. It had been converted not long after the Mouri family had moved in years ago. It had a pleasant feel to it, setting one at ease.

"The phone is for you," the elder woman said. "It's that young man who was helping you with your applications."

Robyn stiffened at the description but took the cordless phone anyway. She took a deep breath, unsure of what reaction or words to expect from the young man. After all, he'd been irrationally upset at her for spending time with Arain; so how upset was he that she didn't stay for the beating? Like she would have anyway. One man beating her up once in her life was more than enough for her; she wouldn't stand for a second one. Never again.

"Hello?" she said as casually as she could, despite her stomach twisting in anxiety. Mariko's words were running through her head as Jayzen greeted her somewhat nervously.

"Listen…about the other day… I just want to apologize. I was way outta line and I just want you to know that it will never happen again. So, we're cool, right?"

Robyn blinked twice before answering with a flat, "No, we're not." She could almost hear the surprise and confusion from him on the other side of the line as he floundered for something to say in response. It took him a few moments and she waited patiently.

"We're—we're not? But—but I didn't mean to—you gotta believe me, I didn't mean to hit you!"

"But you did. There are no second chances. Sorry."

He was silent as he absorbed this and she gave him the time he need. He probably wasn't used to getting turned down after an apology. A normal girl would have stayed with him…possibly. But then she wasn't exactly "normal" anyway…

"Okay. I guess I can live with that," he acquiesced after a few minutes. "I mean, it does make sense. Still, I am _really_ sorry."

"I understand," she answered, happy that he wasn't taking it the wrong way. "I'd still like to be friends, but—"

"Nah, I totally understand. No worries, Princess."

She felt her cheeks grow warm at the nickname, not used to such terms of endearment. "Okay, no worries then."

"I still got some of your application stuff though. I gotta go downtown today, but did you want to meet at the park or something? You know, just pick it up and go kind of thing?"

She bit her lower lip as she moved to sit on the stairs outside of the little pottery room. Not that Mrs. Mouri would eavesdrop but she didn't want her to overhear and tell the guys that she was going out later. And she especially didn't want them to know who she was meeting up with. They'd flip! And then they'd insist on going with her and that would just make things more awkward for everyone.

"Um, sure I guess. What time did you want to try and meet?" she asked, squelching the uneasy feeling that was curling in the pit of her stomach. Why was she so nervous? They were just friends and he now knew that she wouldn't stand for him hitting her, so why did she have such a bad feeling about all this? Why?

"Hey, you still there?"

She shook her head to bring herself back to attention, "Yeah, sorry. I kinda spaced there."

"Okay… Anyway, I got a client at two, but I should be done at three-thirty. Wanna meet at four?"

"Sure, for is good. At the park?"

"Yup."

"All right, see ya then."

"Bye." And he hung up.

She heaved a large sigh as she turned the cordless phone off and returned it to Mrs. Mouri, reassuring the woman that all was fine. The older woman stared at her and for a moment, Robyn began to wonder just how much Mrs. Mouri had actually heard of the conversation. But then a smile spread across the woman's face and Robyn sighed in relief, smiling as well. No questions were going to be asked apparently and she was thankful for that.

Now she needed to figure out how to leave the house without the guys noticing…

* * *

"Has anyone seen Robyn? Cye asked as he entered the living room to find Sage reading, Rowen watching TV and Ryo and Kento looking for something to eat in the adjoining kitchen. No Robyn in sight. She wasn't in her room, wasn't with Mrs. Mouri and wasn't in the bathroom… The twins were supposed to be showing up soon too, since Mariko had called only fifteen minutes ago…

"Nope, not since breakfast," supplied Rowen, not even looking away from the television. Cye didn't bother to look and see what had Rowen's attention—probably cartoons or a sitcom or something.

"Why? What's up?" Ryo asked from the kitchen, looking at Cye curiously.

"Just wondering…" Cye murmured, giving Kento a reproachful look. "Kento, you can wait another hour, you know!"

"Why?" the bearer of Hardrock questioned, looking up out of the fridge in surprise.

"Because I said so."

"Oh yeah?" Kento turned away from the fridge and stalked towards Cye, fully intent to rough up his best friend. Cye was no fool and was preparing to take on Kento's assault; it was all in good fun, after all.

"No rough housing today, please," came the motherly remark from the entrance of the kitchen. The two boys stopped immediately, looking sheepish and laughing nervously.

"Mrs. Mouri," Ryo said, grabbing the older woman's attention. "Do you know where Robyn is?"

Mrs. Mouri looked at him in surprise, "You don't know? That's odd… I thought she would have said something… Well, in any case, she went out to meet that young man, Jason I think his name was—"

"Jayzen?" Cye asked staring at his mother in shock.

"Yes, him. They were meeting at the park."

"Why?" Ryo asked.

"She was getting some of her stuff from him. I have a feeling she's ending it with him. Shame though, he seemed nice…"

"Right…" Cye said, swallowing the lump in his throat; his mother didn't seem to notice their discomfort, or if she did, she didn't say anything. She simply left the room, telling them to behave as she did so.

"I thought she said she wasn't going to see him again," Kento commented, a frown on his face and an apple in his hand, now forgotten.

"So did I… so what are we going to do?" Ryo asked, looking into the living room to see that Rowen was now looking at them, deep in thought. Apparently he and Sage had heard too.

"We could go after her and make sure she's okay," Rowen suggested, still looking thoughtful.

"We should let her do this on her own," Sage said, still reading his book. "She obviously felt she needed to go alone."

"She felt that way with her old house and we all know how that went," Ryo commented, obviously preferring Rowen's suggestion over Sage's.

"This is different. No supernatural powers and all that," Cye said, grudgingly agreeing with Sage. He knew Robyn well enough to know that she would be hurt if they showed up; she would see it as them not trusting in her.

"I think it just became a supernatural deal, guys," Kento interrupted, pointing to the television. The others looked to the appliance, curious as to why Kento would say such a thing, and watched the news pop on and cover a mysterious occurrence in the park.

'_Our news chopper is unable to get any closer but we are coming to you live from…_'

"Oh man, please tell me this is not happening," Ryo muttered as they all watched the news camera zoom in on the all too familiar green, smoky fog that had encased the perimeter of the public park.

The Nether Realm had entered their realm once again. And their instincts told them that Robyn was right in the middle of the Nether Realm infested park. This was _**so**_ not good…

* * *

Robyn felt her breath catch in her throat as Jayzen stared at her blankly, his eyes glazed over as if he was merely a shell. Jayzen had been working for Dragon all along… She felt so betrayed, but at the same time, she was hardly surprised at her luck. She seemed to have poor luck when it came to choosing boyfriends, but something had drawn her to the young man. He had reminded her of Scott with his gentle doting and concern for her, as well as his humor, and perhaps that was why she had wanted to be around the young man. But now knowing that he had been working for Dragon, she felt the betrayal twice as heavily.

"Are you coming, Pet?" Dragon asked her in an inquisitive tone. Robyn gave him an odd look when she realized that he genuinely believed that he was in complete control of the situation. He apparently hadn't learned since the last time he'd kidnapped her: she did _not_ respond well to authority figures.

"You really think that I'm just going to pack up and run off to the Netherworld with you? Just like that? Like, poof! All easy and stuff?" she asked, laughing as she watched the confident expression on the man's face falter slightly. He really had! Oh the poor sap…

She bit her lower lip as she searched within herself for that little storehouse of power that she hadn't even known she'd had before this entire incident. A moment later she felt that odd little thrum—the one that kept a lid on _her_ power, on _her_ strength. She tapped into it slightly, knowing very well that she would need it if she wanted to escape. It had taken her power last time to knock Dragon off his feet for a few weeks and she had few doubts that it would be needed again.

But first she'd try to escape without using it.

"And what can you do to stop me, Pet?" he asked, his cocky tone causing her to roll her eyes.

"I'm not a damsel, ya know," she said, pouting for a moment before turning and racing towards the nearest exit of the park. Unfortunately, Dragon had anticipated this and to Robyn's horror, strange suits of armor suddenly fell from the dark, rolling clouds above the city. As if that strange sight wasn't frightening enough, the armors moved to block the exit with weapons drawn and pointed at her in a menacing manner.

A squeak of surprise escaped her as she tried to stop her headlong rush to the exit by veering off to her left, causing her feet to skid on the gravel path and she nearly lost her balance in the process. The armors did not move to pursue her as she initially thought they would, but she was quickly distracted by the fact that there were more armors guarding the other exit she was now heading for. _And_ more of them were dropping from the sky. What _were_ these things?!

She quickly skidded to a stop and stared at the armors in anger, her breathing labored from all the running around. A quick glance told her that these creatures were everywhere…and she wasn't going to get past them any time soon. Well damn…

"If you're quite done, Pet…" drawled the man behind the whole kidnapping and Robyn swung her head around just in time to see him approaching her…with Jayzen in tow.

"Why don't you let him go?" she asked, hoping that distracting the sinister man would buy her some time to figure out a better escape plan. Dragon paused in his approach, face taking on a surprised expression as if he was not sure what she was talking about. Realization dawned on him a moment later and he laughed aloud, the sound sending shivers down her spine in fearful anticipation.

"You mean him?" he asked, pointing at the dazed body following him. "You mean you don't recognize him? Well, I can't say I'm not surprised. He does look different from when _you_ last saw him, which means my spell worked, of course."

Robyn's brows knitted together in confusion as she stared at the two men, the man in sub-armor still laughing and the dazed one doubling over as if in pain. To her dismay, Jayzen's body began to shimmer as if he were merely a reflection on water—and was replaced with Scott's body when the flickering ceased.

Her mouth fell open as a new wave of betrayal swept through her. Scott's eyes were still dazed, as if he wasn't really in control of himself anymore and she shook her head at the image he presented. He looked just like his victims…

"What—what did you _do_ to him?!" she screamed, her heart aching at the realization that Jayzen had really been Scott the entire time. No wonder she'd felt so at ease around the young man, as if she had known him or met him before. No wonder he had reminded her of Scott…

"Hmm? Nothing," replied the amber-haired man, "Well, nothing against his will anyway. I mean, I _do_ own his soul, after all."

Robyn stared at Dragon, utterly appalled at how casually the man spoke of the situation. How heartless could he truly be? Did _he_ have no soul?

Her fists clenched at her sides, her disgust for the man in front of her growing by the minute. He deserved any pain she or the boys would dish out to him. The bastard…

"Now, come along, Pet. It's time to go. We have a schedule to keep."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she tapped further into that now familiar thrum of energy within her. She needed to escape…_now_! When she felt a spike in the power she was collecting, she fixed her gaze on Dragon, her lips pulling back into a sneer as she spoke. "Go to Hell."

And then she threw that energy at both men, knowing that Scott would only pursue if she spared him. Robyn didn't even pause to see if they could dodge the shock-wave before she turned and raced away from them. As she approached one of the gates, she threw another shockwave of power at the armors guarding it and watched as the power hit them full-force. The armors contorted and crumpled in on themselves and she expected to hear screams of pain or something of the sort, but instead she was met with a hissing sound as greenish-gray smoke leaked out of the cracked and broken armors.

But she wasn't going to stop and question that. At least not at the moment.

She had just crossed the threshold of the exit, its iron gates and archway a welcoming sight to her when a headache struck her full-force. It was as if something was picking at her brain—a presence shifting through her mind—before it was miraculously gone. Her eyes widened momentarily in panic as she realized what was happening. The sensation of lead flowing through her veins struck her almost immediately after her headache disappeared. Her movements began to slow as her limbs grew heavy and unresponsive to her brain's commands.

Desperate, she again drew her energy into a shock-wave and searched for that invading presence that was lurking just beneath the lead-like sensations. Finding it, she concentrated and rammed the presence with the energy, catching it by surprise. The presence retreated, stunned and dazed at the attack.

She heard a startled yelp from behind her but she paid it no heed as her limbs began to regain their rhythm and she took off down the street. She dared not look over her shoulder in fear of slowing down and not reaching her destination in time…although she had no clue where her destination was exactly.

The guys were all at the Mouri house and she dared not be chased there, not with Mrs. Mouri being home and the guys unprepared to fight. Besides, she didn't really want to involve them anyway…though it was looking like she might have to… Mia's was way too far to run to and she had no clue if anyone was home at Mariko's apartment. Yasalia and the New Age store were in the other direction, so she'd have to back-track somehow…and if she was lucky, Robyn would not involve any bystanders. '_Great Robyn,_' she silently chastised herself, '_You gonna run around in circles 'till they get tired or something?_'

"Robyn?" a familiar voice called out ahead of her and the redhead looked up to see the surprised face of her friend, Kami.

"Kami! Call Cye! Tell him I'm at Yasalia's! Please!" she shouted as she closed the distance between the two. The girl had come to halt, assuming that Robyn was going to stop and speak with her; however, Robyn had no intentions of doing that, not unless she wanted to be dragged to another realm and be held prisoner—which she did not.

"Wha—? Why? What's going on? Robyn?!" the girl cried in worry as Robyn raced by her and showed no signs of stopping or turning back.

"Please! Just call him! Hurry!" Robyn desperately threw over her shoulder, but she did not take the time to see if Kami would comply. She had to get out of sight before she could double-back and head towards the soul-gaki's store.

She quickly cut the corner down an alley that she knew was a shortcut and continued running. She cut another corner and ran as fast as her feet would carry her, using the city's alleyways as a means to muddy her trail. It seemed to be working too, much to her relief and satisfaction, but she dared not slow her pace for fear of her being outsmarted or just plain wrong.

She quickly cut another corner and gasped as hands grabbed her roughly, the grip on her upper-arms almost bruising. Looking up into the shadows that lay in front of her, she stared into a lavender eye. Most of the figure was still enshrouded in the darkness of the alleyway but the way that eye twinkled told Robyn all she needed to know.

"Sage? Oh thank God! We have to get out of here! Dragon's after me!" she pleaded, pulling on his grip so that they could run away. A deep rumble of a chuckle silenced her voice and her struggles to get them moving. She stared at the eye in fear and confusion, not understanding why Sage would keep her in harm's way and why he would laugh at her like that. And how did he know that she was here? Oh no…

The figure shifted, moving out of the shadows to stand illuminated in what little light there was between the large buildings surrounding them and the ominous clouds above. Robyn's breath hitched in her throat and tears burned her eyes as she recognized who stood before her. The single kind lavender eye had turned into a pair of cold, calculative and hostile lavender ones, framed by amber-colored wisps of hair. A cold smirk adorned the handsome face as she stared up at it helplessly and fearfully.

She shivered as the figure spoke icily to her; "I know, Pet," was all that the figure said before a hand clamped over her mouth from behind and everything went black.

* * *

The large gate doors opened slowly, their ancient hinges creaking and causing him to shudder in wary anticipation. He already had an idea of who was going to step through that gate; he just hoped he was wrong. It was too soon in his mind, much too soon for the dragon to be returning to the Nether Realm. His return meant that the Mother Empress had been successfully captured but he desperately prayed that his little sister had taken all the necessary precautions in keeping the Empress safe. She should have at least; he didn't think Kayura could express the brevity of the situation enough to the bearer of Phoenix when the two last spoke with one another.

He watched as a figure stepped through the gate and headed confidently towards the castle that laid a good distance away from the gate. His hope sank as he watched the man turn and wait expectantly for something…or someone. Another man soon appeared and he was carrying what looked to be a body over one shoulder…a body with red hair…

Damn… The dragon had gotten his claws on the Empress after all.

With a sigh of defeat, he waited for a few more moments before turning and heading back to the underground headquarters that the others were waiting for him at. A fair number of Nether Soldiers had exited the gate as well, but nothing out of the ordinary there. He'd seen that same number exit the realm to begin with—no wait, there were less now… Did that mean that there'd actually been a fight?

His beady eyes turned back to the redhead that was slung over the shoulder of Dragon's lackey. Had _she_ put up that much of a fight? Had _she_ been able to destroy creatures such as Nether Soldiers on her first encounter with them? If so, then he was duly impressed. Perhaps there was a chance of survival for them after all.

The gate doors slowly swung closed, the locks slipping into place causing a large boom to reverberate throughout the area. With a frown, he detached himself from the tall grass he had been crouching in and turned west, still using the grass as cover. He needed to get back to let the others know that the Empress had arrived a little earlier than expected. A surprise that he, Sehkmet, did not care for at all.

"She's here," he said as soon as he entered the grotto. The three occupants looked up at him in surprise, eyes wide and mouths agape. He knew exactly what they were thinking and he couldn't blame them. The same thoughts had crossed his mind the moment he'd seen her body carried into the Nether Realm, and the one thought that had been swimming around his head the entire way back to the grotto was probably going through theirs right now too: They weren't ready.

"What?!" Kayura screeched, shooting up from her seat on the stone floor by the modest little fire. "How can that be?! Mariko swore to us that she'd keep the girl safe!"

Sehkmet shrugged his shoulders; "Doesn't matter now does it. She's _here_. One of us needs to go get the others."

Dais snorted in derision, "As if they'd believe us anyway."

"Trust will be the issue, Dais. Not belief," Cale corrected, stoking the fire. It was giving off a pitiful amount of heat, but then again, they had just started it. It would take awhile for it to get going and put out enough heat to keep the stone room warm.

"Same thing," Dais remarked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Regardless," Kayura broke in, her tone still attesting to her annoyance at how fast things were moving. "Someone needs to tell the Ronins."

"I nominate Dais," Cale quickly said, smirking as the man's eye widened in shock.

"What?! No fair! I nominate you then!"

Sehkmet shook his head, his gaze catching Kayura's before nodding in understanding. He would be needed here, along with Dais and her. And that meant that Cale would end up being the one to go and inform the Ronins that they were needed once more. Hopefully he and Halo wouldn't go at it right off the bat. _If_ they were lucky, the Ronins would only be a day behind them at the most. If not… somehow Cale was going to have to drag them to the Nether Realm, or have Mariko talk to the brats.

"Cale," Kayura interrupted the two arguing Warlords. They both paused to look at her, Cale's eyes pleading her not to send him. "You're going to the Mortal Realm and gathering the Ronins."

"But—"

"The rest of us will free the Empress and bring her here to wait for your return with them."

"You'd be better suited for convincing them to come," Cale interjected, crossing his arms and giving her a challenging look. Sehkmet wasn't entirely sure what had happened when the two were escaping capture from Dragon, but Sehkmet was not all that surprised that they were butting heads. They all did when it came to Kayura. None of them had gotten along too well under Talpa's rule; at least not after Mariko had left. And some habits die hard…

"You'll manage. Besides, Mariko should be there to help," Kayura replied, unfazed by the verbal push.

Cale opened his mouth as if to argue more before thinking better of it and just sighing in defeat. Sometimes it really wasn't worth arguing with the young woman, especially when there was no way to win against her.

"Fine," he conceded, frowning slightly…as if pouting. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Agreed," Kayura said, acknowledging the comment before continuing with their battle strategy. They would need to act quickly if they wanted to get the girl out before any damage was done to her…physically or mentally.

* * *

She wasn't sure how long it had been since those overly sluggish green armors dropped her unceremoniously on the floor in what looked to be a bedroom. It was a nice room, well-furnished with expensive hand-carved furniture and draped with expensive-looking fabrics and silks. The bed was larger than she had ever seen and the fact that this room was to be her "prison cell" was beyond weird to her. She was a captive, not a guest. This prison cell was so deceptive that she surmised its purpose was to cause her guard to slip.

Well, call her crazy, but if she was going to be a prisoner, then she'd rather be treated like one. Even her room at the mental institute in the States hadn't been this luxurious.

Her captors however, ignored her protests and wishes to be in a different room. Nowhere else was befitting for a person of her caliber, they said. Bull. Complete and utter bull. Well, she'd remind them of the caliber she was. She'd make a run for it. Maybe not the most thought out plan but it was a plan and it beat sitting around doing nothing.

Might as well use her energy for something…constructive.

With that thought in mind, she subtly gathered energy into her arm and allowed it to flow downward to the palm of her hand. She watched the cream-colored energy swirl about her arm and hand, concentrating it into a dense sphere. Despite what she was about to do, the sphere of swirling energy was quite beautiful, little works of art in their own way. It was as if she were watching the birth of a small planet…absolutely stunning…

The sphere had grown to the size of a softball and with a last glance towards the door, she threw the ball at the single window of her room. The impact rocked the entire room, probably the entire side of the building, but it had fulfilled its purpose. Where there had once been a wall with a small window ensconced in it, was a now-crumbling opening. Hearing concerned shouts and alarms being raised on the other side of the door, she raced to the edge of her handiwork and looked down.

Well damn, she didn't know it was _that_ far of a drop…

"Suck," she muttered, gauging how injured she was going to be when she finally did jump. Realizing that she was most likely going to break a leg, she groaned in dismay and backed up. Maybe taking a running leap would minimize her chances…and if she rolled when she landed…

"What is going on?!" an angry bellow sounded from the other side of the door. There was a jingle of metal, like keys clanking on a key ring of sorts and then the sound of a key scraping into a lock.

Robyn took that as her cue to jump. Running full tilt to the edge, she resisted the urge to scream as she leaped out of the building and fell downwards. She forced herself to pay attention and prepare tuck and roll when the time came. The ground came up too fast for her and she landed roughly on her feet before rolling downhill. She hadn't realized there was a hill…

When she rolled to a stop, she laid in the tall grass for a moment catching her breath. It had worked. She hadn't broken her neck with that jump when she should have. Maybe the demon had something to do with it—it didn't matter. She had made it out alive. That was what mattered.

"Find her! I want her alive and unharmed!"

Growling in frustration, she quickly pushed herself up off the ground and turned to run away from the palace. Only she did not get that far. White-hot pain radiated from her ankle and she bit her lip to stifle her cry of pain. She had sprained her ankle, or at the worst broken it. Great, what was she to do now?

"I've got to hide," she muttered to herself and began to crawl on her hands and knees since she couldn't stand and run. Yet where was she to hide? She couldn't stay out in the tall grasses forever. There had to be somewhere that she could go! She just had to find it…

A soft yip came from her left, just past her elbow and she paused, glancing in that direction. She found herself staring into the golden feline gaze of a creature she had seen only once before. The last time she had seen the feline looking creature had been when she was trying to find the armor orb of Apollo in her room. Why was it here? Did it live here? Was she near its home or den? And most importantly…would it help her?

"Hello there," she whispered and was delighted that it seemed to remember her. It raced forward, rubbing its head against her arm, mewling in happiness. "Can you help me?"

To her surprise and relieve, the creature mewed once before bouncing off to her right. Robyn watched the creature pause after a few hops and look back at her expectantly. She followed, crawling fast but cautiously through the grass, not wanting to give away her position to her enemies. When she had reached the little animal, it bounded off again, paused and waited for her to catch up.

She must have followed the creature for at least half an hour before it finally seemed to stop. When she reached it, it mewed again with its little head held high, apparently proud of itself. Robyn looked past the little creature and found herself staring into a small ditch with an overhang, only it was rock and not dirt. If she stayed there and did not move or make a lot of sound, then any search parties would likely overlook the place…and her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Robyn eased herself into the little ditch and curled up on her side, staring out at the lowering sun and the little creature that had saved her.

"Thank you," she whispered to it and it mewed happily before jumping into the crevice and curling up next to her in a little ball of fur. Robyn happily buried her face into the little body, its warmth a comfort in the cool, damp area she was hiding in. It was consoling to have another warm body, even a small one, near her with all the stuff that was going on.

Maybe the guys would find her soon…if they managed to get to wherever she was.

* * *

"We're too late!" Rowen called over to his teammates as he dispatched his two Nether soldiers. The others were doing the same, finishing the last of the soldiers that had been left behind in the local park. They had left as soon as they had seen the newscast on the television, calling their subarmor and racing downtown.

"We have to go after her!" Cye shouted, punching the last of his enemies in the helmet. Gray smoke spilled out of the openings as the green armor crashed to the ground, empty and unmoving. Kento ran up to his best friend as did Ryo. Rowen approached them as Sage fell in step next to him.

"Yeah but, how?" Kento agreed, giving his friend a curious look.

"We should find Mariko and Cody," Sage suggested, surveying their handiwork. "She should know how to reach the Nether Realm without a gate."

"Uh…guys," Ryo began looking past their group and into the distance. "We won't need to."

Rowen looked up and his eyes widen at the sight of the towering gate. Never would he have thought to see such a sight in Toyama again so soon. There at the edge of the park was a gate to the Nether Realm and as they all stood there staring in disbelief and surprise, the gates opened.

They all jumped backward into a defensive stance, waiting for a sign of attack. Nothing happened. There was no sign of attack and no sign of Nether soldiers, but Rowen could hear sounds of struggle some ways away and he realized that it was coming from the direction of the gate. Someone was fighting by the gate, which meant that more Nether soldiers had made their way into the Mortal Realm.

As if they needed this right now.

"Let's go!" Ryo shouted and raced towards the gate before Rowen could warn him about the soldiers. Cye and Kento were quick to follow and Sage glanced at him briefly before taking off after his teammates. Rowen just shrugged and followed, racing down the path into the trees of the park.

As he raced toward the gate, he heard the shouts of surprise and alarm; some came from Ryo and Kento, but the others were from someone else. He couldn't remember who exactly that voice belonged to but it was someone familiar. Rowen rounded a corner and burst through the brush and trees to find at least fifty soldiers surrounding the Warlord of Corruption. Now why the warlord was even there to begin with was beyond him, but with the way things were going, it was hard to be surprised about anything nowadays.

"About damn time you five showed up!" Cale shouted at them in what Rowen could only describe as exasperation. He had been expecting them? Well, that was new. And he was not entirely sure what to think of that either.

The soldiers were easily finished off between the six of them. However, when the last soldier fell, Sage immediately pinned the warlord with a dark look, demanding to know why he was there in the first place. Well, it was a valid question, though Sage sounded the least enthusiastic about the warlord's presence; and Rowen had half-expected Sage to be a bit bitter towards the Warlord of Corruption.

"I came to get you five," Cale said sounding a bit put out. That only made the others edgy and the warlord seemed to notice it for he started muttering something about having told her so. Told who? Kayura? Robyn?

"Why?" Ryo asked, watching the warlord carefully. Cale sighed heavily and crossed his arms, giving them all a look that said it should have been obvious.

"You really have to ask that?" he asked them.

"Why should we trust you?" Sage countered, still glaring at the warlord.

"Do you really have any other choice?"

"Sage is right, why _should_ we trust you?" Ryo asked, slowly easing into a defensive stance. Kento and Sage did the same, but Rowen and Cye did not. Rowen had a suspicion that they were _all_ going to have to work together to win this fight, especially if they wanted Robyn alive and safe. Now he couldn't say the same for Cye since the young man's fists were clenched at his sides and he seemed to be having an internal debate on whether to trust the warlord.

"I _told_ her you five wouldn't believe me," Cale growled, throwing his hands up in the air. It seemed that the 'normal' gesture eased the tension ever so slightly. "Do you want to go after your friend or not?"

_That_ got all of their attention and Ryo immediately dropped his stance. "Where is she? Is she with you? Did you guys get her back?"

Cale dropped his gaze, obviously not comfortable with answering that question, "No…she is still Dragon's captive."

"Did you guys even bother trying to get her?" Cye accused, fists still clenched at his sides. Rowen suddenly wondered if this was going to turn into a free-for-all, what with the way Sage, Cye and even Ryo were acting towards Cale. Were he and Kento going to have to pull them apart? Although, knowing Kento, he'd join Cye in the pounding and it would be up to Rowen to mend everything. Strange…usually Sage was the voice of reason.

"Acutally, yes," Cale said, smiling confidently. "The others should be going about their rescue mission as we speak."

* * *

There was something in the grass.

Biting her lip, she curled up tighter in a fetal position and watched the grass outside her hiding place with wide green eyes. She waited with baited breath for any sign of a creature…or even more soldiers. Yet if it were a soldier, she should have seen its hulking form in the distance by now. Oh she so hoped it wasn't some rabid wild animal.

"Mew," the little creature murmured, rubbing its head underneath her chin. It seemed to sense her unease and she was grateful for the small gesture; but it did not ease her anxiety one bit.

Just what was out there?

* * *

"Why are we just standing around here? Why aren't we going after Robyn right now?"

"Are they supposed to meet us here?"

"Is she okay?"

Cale resisted the urge to growl at the numerous questions the ronins were asking him. Honestly, it was like babysitting a bunch of kids…oh wait, that _was_ what he was supposed to be doing… Why couldn't it have been Kayura who was watching these brats?

"We can't move until its dark, otherwise we'll be spotted," he explained as patiently as he could. He couldn't believe how difficult it was to keep these guys still, let alone in one place. Kids…

"Who cares? Let's go find her!" the bearer of Hardrock grumbled, cracking his knuckles. The bearer of Wildfire nodded in agreement, as did Torrent. Halo was still watching him skeptically and Strata…he seemed to be trying to figure out the best tactic and then get his teammates to agree upon it. Well, at least there was _one_ sane guy in the bunch.

"I just said that if we move now, we'll be spotted. Surprising the enemy is our best option right now."

"As much as I hate to say it, he's right," Sage spoke up, looking anywhere but at the Warlord of Corruption. Rowen nodded in agreement and that seemed to cause the other three Ronins to slowly and reluctantly approve of the decision to stay put. Finally, maybe his job would be a little easier now, although Cale knew better than to hold his breath.

"So what do you expect us to do while we wait then?" Torrent asked, his tone poorly concealing his agitation. Cale did not fault him for that; the bearer of Torrent felt the girl was his responsibility, and now she had been kidnapped. His irritation was completely understandable, although unwanted on Cale's part. It just made things more difficult for him…

"We plan."

* * *

She stayed huddled further into the crevice, her heart pounding her ears as she watched various armored feet pound against the ground not a few feet from her. Silence would be her saving grace and so she shut her eyes tightly, hoping that if she didn't see those guards rushing past her, then she wouldn't whimper and give away her position. How had they come so close to her hiding place anyway? Hadn't she traveled far enough from the castle that they would give up on her?

'_Obviously not_,' she thought to herself as a horse neighed in the distance and the footfalls of soldiers grew further and further away. She released a soft sigh and relaxed her body, the tension in her back causing her to grimace slightly. How much longer was she going to have to do this? She was tired of hiding…but there was nowhere else for her to go. She didn't know anyone here that she could run to.

* * *

Night had finally fallen in the Nether Realm and they were all getting antsy to move. Cale had yet to say anything about moving out to meet the other warlords and Robyn; Sage was still giving the warlord the cold shoulder and Cye looked about ready to lay into the man. Ryo was frustrated, that could be seen from the way he paced and frowned at nothing in particular, and Kento was shifting restlessly from foot to foot. Rowen appeared to be the only one doing what Cale had told them to do, which was wait.

The plan they had devised was hardly magnificent or intricate. They would meet up with the other warlords and Robyn, then take her back home and keep her under surveillance until they figured out a way to defeat Dragon and Totoyami. Yeah, not much of a plan but it was something, and Cale assured them that Cody and Mariko would start searching for help from other…creatures. Rowen wasn't sure what he thought of that but he was not going to complain at this point, from what Cale could tell at least.

"When are we going?" Cye finally asked.

Cale looked up at them, face pinched in slight annoyance, "When I receive the signal."

"Signal? What signal? Why didn't you mention that before?!"

"I didn't? Oops," Cale said, not really all that apologetic. His senses told him that his comment was not well-received and he prepared himself to take a few hits but he felt his armor thrum. Something was in the shadows…

He ignored the Ronins and had it not been for his concentrated look, a few of them would have decked him by now for his blatant disregard of respect for them. Ryo followed his line of sight, as did Sage, but the bearer of Wildfire saw nothing out in the vast fields around them. Nor did Sage for that matter and Rowen was a little concerned about that; after all, what could Cale sense that they couldn't?

A gust of wind rushed through their little camp and a figure suddenly appeared with a slight 'whoosh.' Cale was unsurprised at the entrance and was not moving to attack the newcomer, which probably meant it was one of the other warlords. Wonderful… Two for one deal now.

"There's been a change of plan," the newcomer said, voice light and melodious. Rowen frowned at his luck. Of course it was Kayura. Why wouldn't it be?

"How so?" Cale asked, frowning and the others quickly realized that something had gone wrong in the careful planning of saving Robyn.

"What happened?" Ryo asked, butting in and Cye was right behind him, slightly glaring at the two.

Kayura easily turned her attention to them, answering Ryo's question with hardly any hesitation. "The Empress took matters into her own hands."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Where is Robyn now? Is she okay?"

"She escaped Dragon and is now hiding. She is doing an amazing job repressing her energy. He cannot locate her but unfortunately, neither can we," she commented, seeming hardly bothered by the missing status of the redhead.

"You mean she's out there alone?!" Cye shouted at her, flinging his arm outward towards the large expanse of weeds and grassy plains of the Nether Realm. Kento followed his gesture and grimaced, frowning at the realization that their friend was by herself in a place she did not know a single thing about it, and probably scared out of her mind too. Sure Robyn was tough, but with everything that had happened so far, there was no telling when she'd completely freak out.

"Yes."

Why did Kayura have to seem so _calm_? This was unbelievable, Rowen thought to himself as he saw his teammates grow angry with her comment; he wasn't too happy about her answer either. Yet, before anyone could say anything else, she turned to regard Cale in a business-like manner. "You are to find her. Night is the ideal time for you to search for her."

Cale stared at her silently and grumpily as he processed the command she had given him. He suddenly gave her a smug grin and then melded out of sight, sinking into the shadows surrounding them without a word. Rowen stared perplexed at the spot where the warlord had just been; that whole melding into the shadows thing was a new trick to him. How had he managed that?

"Are we going after Robyn?" Sage turned to Kayura, fixing her with a glare.

"No. Cale will find her, retrieve her and return with her to the grotto. We shall go there and wait for their arrival."

"Why him?" Kento asked curiously.

Kayura raised a brow at the bearer of Hardrock. "Why not?"

"You just said no one could find her. How is he?"

"Cale will not be searching for an energy signature. He will be searching for an intrusion in the shadows. Wherever she is, she will be in shadow and he will find her easily."

Cye did not look convinced, nor did Ryo or Sage. Apparently, Kento and Rowen himself were the only ones really willing to buy that answer. Kayura seemed to notice it was well because she smiled at them in a manner that clashed with the way they remembered her to be. The smile was very much like a child trying to reassure adults about an imaginary friend being real.

"Do not worry. The Empress will be returned in no time. And then we can end this stupid little hissy fit of Dragon and the little spawn."

* * *

Someone was approaching her hiding spot and she quietly shuffled farther back into the crevice, clutching the creature with her to her chest in fear. She was surprised that it hadn't squeaked in protest of her grip but it was hardly worth much thought at present, what with a potential enemy approaching her hideaway. How had they figured out where she was? Or was it just bad luck that they were heading towards her and didn't even know it?

Robyn held her breath as a figure grew closer in the dark but starry night of…wherever she was. When only the legs of the solitary figure became the only visible part of the person's body, she tightly shut her eyes closed. Wishing over and over that the person would not see her, she listened with bated breath to see if the figure was moving. There was no sound. No rustling of the tall grasses or crunch of the weeds and plants beneath booted feet. She _could_ hear the figure breathing, even and…normal.

Her eyes snapped open as she realized that this person was different than those armors that had been searching the countryside for her. Those armors did not breathe—well, not like a _human_ did, that was for sure. Their breathing was raspy, as if the wind was passing through the eaves of a tin roof. No, this person was _human_ and that meant one of two things: it was an ally…or it was Dragon.

She prayed it was an ally.

Robyn's eyes were wide as she watched the legs of the figure in front of her. They were covered in armor that was similar to her boys'—from what she could tell in the dark, that is; which still didn't tell her much. Dragon had armor like the boys too. Oh gods, she hoped it wasn't Dragon because if it was, her little last-minute escape plan would have been for naught. And she might actually cry if she was caught again so soon.

The legs slowly bent at the knee and she watched as the person lowered themselves into a crouching position and peered into the crevice she was squeezed into. The person wore a crooked smile as he gazed in at her and Robyn felt her breath hitch in her chest as she stared into his dark-colored eyes. A scar ran over one side of his face—over and under his eye by the looks of it. The smile put her at ease for some reason and she unconsciously relaxed her grip on the animal. Her instincts told her she could trust this man. Not that she was too reliable with trusting people lately but still… Something told her to trust him.

"So this is where you took to hiding. Not bad," he said, glancing around her little hideout. His eyes focused momentarily on the animal in her arms and he chuckled in what she could only call amusement as the creature mewed at him.

"Found yourself a Seeker too. Not bad at all."

He waited for her to speak.

Robyn chose silence, despite her desire to trust him. He seemed to realize this and shook his head in resignation. His hand then reached out towards her and she immediately shuffled away from him, not trusting anyone at that moment. He seemed to know too much about her situation to make her feel comfortable. How had he known where to find her anyway?

"It's all right Empress," he said in a soothing manner and Robyn stared at him, desperately wanting to trust him. She was tired of hiding, tired of stomping down on a hysteria that threatened to overtake her every fifteen minutes, tired of nearly passing out from lack of air every time a group of those armors passed by her spot, tired of everything to do with her situation…and her ankle was killing her.

"Empress, it's all right now. I'm here to take you back to your friends."

Her eyes narrowed slightly at that and frowned. How did he know that her friends were looking for her? Were they even able to figure out where she had been taken to? If so, had they been able to get to this place? She wanted to ask him, but didn't, too afraid of giving him any information he might not have had before.

A sigh escaped the man and she wondered if he would try to pull her out of the hideaway himself. He wouldn't really force her…would he?

"If I don't bring you back, Torrent will chew my ass out for leaving you here."

"You know Cye?" she whispered, voice slightly hoarse from disuse; after all, she had not spoken for the last six or eight hours.

He gave her a lopsided grin again, "Yes, I do. And he is worried about you, as are the other Ronins."

She looked away from his kind smile to his outstretched hand. Tentatively, she reached out and took it, allowing him to pull her up and out of the crevice. She gingerly put weight on her twisted ankle but quickly found the man pulling her closer so that she could use him as a crutch. He frowned slightly as he bent over to inspect her foot but he said nothing about how she might have twisted it.

"Let's go, Empress," he said, pulling her close again.

Her ankle was throbbing so badly that she didn't have the energy to blush at how close they were, but she managed to pout at him. She really didn't like that title.

"It's Robyn."

He seemed to understand what she was saying because he simply nodded. "Hold on tight, Robyn. And try not to scream."

Before she could inquire about his comment, she felt herself being sucked downward through some sort of black vortex. Floating through an inky blackness that made her skin tingle in anticipation, she kept a firm grip on the arm that was helping support her. As they traveled through this odd blackness (which felt as if she were falling while sleeping), she saw pinpoints of light in the distance. In fact, they were surrounded by these gray and deep indigo pinpoints.

"Here we are," the man murmured and she watched as they approached a gray point, the pinprick sized dot growing larger and larger. It slowly gained color and warmed to a rich fiery-orange hue. Soon they were surrounded by the warm color and a stone cave slowly materialized around them. She gasped in shock and stumbled backwards, still holding onto the man's arm. He quickly steadied her since he would tumble down with her if he didn't.

"Easy there," he murmured to her, making sure she was balanced again.

"Nice entrance, as always."

Robyn turned to look at the owner of the voice and found another man in the cave. He was crouched in front of a nice looking fire. His hair was long and flowed down his back in gentle white waves, and when he turned to look at them, she saw that he wore a patch over one eye. One eye. White hair. Dais.

Recognizing one of the Warlords that the boys had spoken of and described to her, she looked up at the man who had come to rescue her. His deep blue hair seemed to want to defy gravity…much like Sage's and his deep blue eyes were cautious with a glint of savagery in them—but it was of an animalistic nature, as if that hostility was from a hard life of simply surviving; because along with that calculating savagery, there was gentleness and loyalty in his eyes. He was a dangerous man, but reliable and a good ally. This man, she realized, was Cale.

Letting go of Cale's arm, she glanced around for the other two members of the group. The other man would be Sehkmet and the girl would be Kayura. They were nowhere in sight and she frowned slightly at that. She looked back at Cale in question.

"Where are the others?" she asked him, voice still a little raspy.

"Sehkmet is on patrol, and Kayura went to get the others," the other man—Dais answered, poking at the fire.

Robyn slowly nodded, limping towards the fire when Cale made his way to Dais's side to take the stick from the other man and throw it on the fire. The two glared at each other challengingly and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at their antics. She barely knew them and she could tell that she was safe with them. Strange.

She hissed slightly in pain as she lowered herself to sit by the fire pit, her ankle throbbing even more than before. She then pulled her pant leg up to look at the swollen appendage and grimaced at how badly mangled it looked. Had she broken it? No, she'd be in a lot more pain if she had, but still, it looked pretty bad. As she examined her ankle, she felt someone shift near her and looked over her shoulder.

"Whoa, gave yourself a nice twist there," Dais said, his eyebrows raised in surprise as he moved to examine her bruising ankle. He gently picked it up and looked at it, slowly moving it this way and that to see how badly she'd injured herself. She hissed and yelped a few times but other than that, she resisted tugging her foot out of his hands. That would have only made it hurt more and she could tell that he was only trying to help. Once done checking her injured appendage, he moved to grab two sticks and some cloth strips, fashioning a crude but effective splint for her twisted ankle with them.

Muttering a thank you, she busied herself with—rearranging her pant leg around the splint as best she could. When the material would not cooperate, she huffed in annoyance before squeaking in surprise. From out of nowhere, Dais had produced a small dagger and split the side of her jeans upwards, allowing the denim to fall loosely around the splint.

"Those were my favorite jeans, you know," she informed him as the dagger disappeared from sight. She crossed her arms and looked up at him with a definite pout.

"You can get more," was the nonchalant reply. The jerk.

She decided to ignore him and wait for the others. The only problem was… She had nothing to do while waiting for the boys to show up. Damn. She was going to be so bored…

A ceramic jug was suddenly thrust in front of her face. Robyn blinked a few times before looking at the person who was holding the jug. Dais had a strange grin on his face and because of that, she refused to immediately take the jug. He was up to something. His smile reminded her of Kento when he was plotting something…like that whole ice cube incident earlier that day. Jeez, had the really been just that morning?

"It's sake, not poison. It'll help dull the ache," he laughed, as if her frown of consternation was amusing to him. It probably was too.

"But I don't—" she began to protest, lightly pushing the jug away from her face.

"Trust me, it'll help."

"He's right," Cale spoke as he reappeared with his arms full of sticks and timber. He had left? She had not even noticed his absence a few moments ago. Maybe the pain was distracting her more than she would have cared for. She should have noticed his absence…

Reluctantly, she took the jug and drank a small sip of sake. It was warm and smooth as it went down and after she got over the initial alcohol taste…it wasn't too bad. She would relent and take a few more sips to dull the throb of her ankle, but not too much sake of course. If she did have too much then she would be of little use to anyone.

* * *

As they entered the stone grotto, he heard laughter and singing that reverberated in the depths of the stone structure. Had it not been for the desperate race to save Robyn and get her out of Dragon's clutches, Cye would dare say that it was a warm and inviting laughter. It was one that would be found in a restaurant with a happy atmosphere…or a pub, especially the pub with all of that…singing. But that was not the case at the moment, and he frowned at it. How could they be laughing and having fun when Robyn was in danger? And had Cale gotten Robyn back safely?

A giggle that could only belong to Robyn resonated not too long after the male laughter and he felt a weight ease of his shoulders and the vice around his chest lessened. Just from that giggle, he could tell that she was safe and unharmed. But he needed to see. So he hurried past Kayura, who did not seem the least perturbed by his action, into the grotto, and came to a grounding halt.

She was safe.

He noticed one pant leg was ripped and draped rather oddly over her ankle. He frowned when she shifted it and he saw one sturdy stick poking out of the split pant leg.

But she was harmed.

"Robyn!" Kento and Ryo shouted behind him, causing the drunken singing to immediately stop, and he watched her turn to look at all them before grinning and waving at them. She nearly smacked Dais in the face (who was sitting on one side of her) and tilted backwards into Cale as she attempted to get up but found that bending her bound leg was not going to cooperate. Her cheeks were rosy and Cye had a feeling that it was not because of the fire she was sitting next to. Her eyes were a little glassy too. Was she drunk?

"Hey guys! Took you long enough!" she laughed, smiling as they all made their way to the fire and she was leaning against Dais now, whose eye seemed just as glassy. The Warlord of Illusion leaned in close and whispered something to her that made her snort with laughter before doubling over and laughing until she could barely breathe. Dais quickly followed her, laughing until he too had trouble breathing. Cale was successfully keeping his laughter at a lower decibel than the other two, but still laughing almost as uncontrollably as them.

Cye frowned as he noted the sake jug next to her and that Dais had a full one in his hand. There were a few other empty jugs scattered around the three of them too. He pointed down at the one next to her. "What is that?"

She looked at it with a slight frown before picking it up to look at it more closely. Oh he hoped she wasn't too drunk to remember that she had been drinking. And she wasn't even legal yet! She shouldn't have been drinking sake to begin with!

"It's sake, Cye. Um…it was… Now its empty…I think…"

She tipped the jug over and yelped when sake poured out onto Cale's lap, since he'd had the unfortunate luck of being underneath the container when she tilted it. Dais was quick to reach over and take the jug from her, laughing as he did so. Cale stood up long enough to wipe the sake off of his subarmor before sitting back to the floor, Dais having poked the back of his knee hard enough for the Warlord of Corruption to come crashing back down.

Robyn ignored the warlord who found himself unceremoniously on the floor again in favor of retrieving her sake jug, or at least attempting to. Dais was having none of it and kept stretching his arm farther away, until Robyn fell across his lap and huffed in frustration.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think that this was where you wanted me all along," she said while continuing to sprawl across the warlord's lap. His look of surprise was enough to tell Cye that he had not expected that comment.

"Looks like she saw right through you!" Cale laughed, pointing at Dais in amusement. Dais grumbled at the Warlord of Corruption and moved to shove the dark-haired man, which forced Robyn to sit up and fall backwards into Cale. The unexpected move caused Cale to fall flat on his back with Robyn now draped over him. Instead of being embarrassed or indignant, she was laughing again and Cale was quick to join her.

Oh god. She _was_ drunk…along with the two warlords.

"Like you're any better!" Dais groused, crossing his arms and almost pouting. Robyn appeared to find this even more hilarious and was laughing like crazy.

"Haha! You guys are too much! We need more sake!" she laughed, completely missing the conspiratorial look Dais gave Cale and the disapproving look everyone else was giving her.

"I can't believe you two! I leave to bring the Ronins here and you make the Empress join you in a three-way drinking contest!" Kayura yelled in a display of anger that the Ronins had never seen from her before. "I've never been so ashamed of knowing you in my life!"

Robyn could have cared less about Kayura's outburst though, seeming to focus on one part of the girl's lecture. "Haha! Three-way! She's so right! We make a great threesome!"

"Threesome?!" Ryo sputtered, eyeing the group as if they were now a six-headed demon. Kento was regarding them in much the same manner and Cye could only shake his head. Sage heaved a large sigh as Kayura sputtered in disbelief, and Rowen snorted in derision.

"You and your threesomes, Robyn. I'm hurt, you know. Are Sage and I not good enough now?" he asked the tipsy girl who was leaning heavily against Cale for support. She stared at him bleary-eyed for a moment before giggling, the bearer of Strata's words finally registering.

"Pff. Nah! We'll always have our own threesome!"

Sage rolled his eyes at that and Rowen shook his head laughing.

"Why'd you give her sake anyway?" Kento questioned, frowning as he crossed his arms, waiting for an answer. Cye knelt down to look Robyn straight in the eyes. She seemed to be aware enough, understanding that they weren't happy with her being drunk.

"Because I hurt myself. I twisted my ankle…we think…" she explained, pulling up the ripped the pant leg to show off her rustically put-together splint. Well, the warlords had attempted to take care of her, Cye would give them that. But the alcohol…

"The pain was bothering her so we thought a little sake would help take the edge off. How were we to know that she hadn't eaten in the last six hours _and_ was such a light-weight," Cale defended as he braced the slightly swaying girl in front of him.

"I am not!" Cye watched her protest, turning to face the Warlord of Corruption with a petulant look. "Just cause—"

"You're a lightweight. Get over it," Rowen joined in, teasing the poor girl and laughing when she turned to look at him in dismay.

"I am not!"

When no one seemed to back her up, she pouted and crossed her arms, harrumphing in a childish manner. Yes, Cye concluded that she had had a little more sake than she should have. Wonderful. Just wonderful. He had no idea how to deal with an intoxicated Robyn…and he hoped that this would be the only time he'd have to.

"But you're funny when you're drunk," Dais laughed, poking her shoulder, which oddly made her burst out laughing. It must have been an inside joke between the three of them because soon all three were laughing aloud again.

Cye just watched in slight disbelief.

* * *

Despite the history of the warlords and the warnings Cye and the others had given her, Robyn had somehow wiggled her way into the warlords' good graces. The two men seemed to have had no qualms in taking care of and watching over Robyn; in fact, they seemed to be almost enjoying it, as if it was nothing more than a get-together between friends…with alcohol.

Needless to say, Cye didn't really know what to make of it.

"You twisted your ankle?" Sage asked, quickly refocusing everyone's attention to different topic. He approached Robyn and Cye moved to crouch next to the redhead, allowing the bearer of Halo room to work. Sage was careful as he undid the splint and examined her ankle, hands glowing slightly as he probed with his armor's energy.

He frowned as he placed her foot down and began to heal the injured appendage. "You did more than twist it," he said, hands glowing as he held one hand over her ankle and the other just above it on her lower shin.

"I broke it?"

"Not quite. Hairline fracture. I can heal it, but we should keep it in the splint for the rest of the night, to be on the safe side."

"Okay," she chirped, smiling. She was definitely too bubbly.

There were footsteps echoing in the entrance of the grotto and Cye stood quickly, moving into a defensive stance. Ryo was quick to mirror his movement and Kento slowly moved toward the entrance, wanting to be the first the enemy met. Rowen his arms loose at his side, ready but not really. Sage was still working on Robyn's ankle.

And the warlords were not moving at all. It was then that Cye noticed that one of the warlords was missing. His least favorite warlord was probably the person entering the grotto at that very moment.

Sure enough, Sehkemt came into view and took one look around the cave, momentarily focused on the trio of drunks before pinning Kayura with a slight frown. "I told you Dais should have gone on patrol."

Kayura let out a sigh of frustration, "Yes, but you were better suited—"

"I wouldn't have gotten the Empress drunk."

"Hey! It's not my fault!" Dais protested, waving his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture.

"Oh?" Sehkmet questioned, tone obviously doubting his innocence.

"Yes, we didn't know she was a lightweight," Cale chimed in from where he was sitting next to said girl.

"You couldn't tell just by looking at her?"

"Hey!" Robyn cried out in protest, glaring at the newcomer in an affronted manner. "What crawled up your butt, huh?"

Sehkmet was slightly taken aback by Robyn's bluntness and Cye silently congratulated his friend for the barb. Even though they were all on the same side, Cye still did not care for the warlord all that much…or any of them for that matter.

"What?" the warlord asked her and Robyn waved off his affronted look.

"Is he always so uptight?" she asked the warlords on either side of her. Cale wisely kept silent while Dais nodded enthusiastically.

"And he's always blaming others, especially me," Dais complained.

"That's because you make it too easy," Cale muttered, earning a laugh from Robyn and a glare from the Warlord of Illusion.

"Indeed," Sehkmet agreed, clearly hearing Cale's muttering though he was still by entrance of the grotto.

"Hey! Why you little—"

"Come on now, be nice," Kayura tried to intervene before the warlords began squabbling. It did not look like it was going to work, however, since Cale was quick to move Robyn closer to the fire and away from the indignant Dais as he and Sehkmet started spouting insults at one another.

Cye joined Robyn, sitting next to her and letting her lean against him since she was still swaying a bit. She smiled at him, one of her true happy smiles that he hadn't seen for a while; not since before this whole mess had started. Perhaps it wasn't surprising to see it, since she _was_ tipsy, but still.

"Well Cale isn't any better! He's just as—" one of the two bickering warlords began to shout over the other and Kayura again tried to intercede.

"Don't bring him into your argument! He's got nothing to do with what you're talking—"

"Of course he's got everything to do with what we're talking about—"

"Says who?! You?! Since when do you get to pick my battles, huh?" Cale yelled in annoyance and before they all knew it, the three warlords were squabbling in one corner of the cave and Kayura was trying to intervene as peacekeeper. And it was apparent that she was not succeeding very well.

"Bah! I give up!" Kayura finally said as the warlords ignored her and the rest of them. She threw her hands up in the air before stalking past Kento and Rowen to plop down by the fire, cross-legged. She looked at Cye from across the fire and sighed.

"They'll be at it for at least twenty minutes now," she explained, noting that Robyn was giving the girl a curious look.

"You really can't stop them?" she asked Kayura, who gave her a curious look back.

"Do I look stupid enough to _actually_ jump into an argument between obstinate men? Placating them is one thing, trying to break it up? Nah-huh."

Robyn seemed to give this some serious thought before shaking her head and bursting into a fit of giggles again. "Yeah, you're right."

Cye looked between his friend and the girl across from them. Robyn barely knew Kayura for five minutes and the two were chattering as if they'd known each other for years. It was very weird to him and as Robyn dissolved into another fit of giggles, he realized two very important things.

It was going to be a very long night.

And Robyn was never allowed to drink again.


End file.
